


Brother By My Side

by black4minister



Category: Chicago Med, Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Brotherly Love, Brothers, Episode Tag, Fluff, GUYS, Gen, Hugs, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, in a million different set ups, it's just shameless will and jay bonding, sick!fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:20:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 61,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23249866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/black4minister/pseuds/black4minister
Summary: There just aren't enough fics about Will and Jay being brothers to each other. So that's what this is - each chapter is a different short story (some are episode tags, some are made up) but they're all just Jay and Will looking out for each other. Expect a lot of hugs, hurt/comfort and general cuteness.Chapter 1 is the inevitable tag on to when Jay is shot. Because they did us dirty on the show and never gave us the scene.
Relationships: Jay Halstead & Will Halstead
Comments: 117
Kudos: 619





	1. You Really Scared Me This Time

Consciousness came back slowly. It always did, when you were drugged up. And unfortunately Jay had enough experience to be an authority on it. His instinct was to fight, of course; to battle his way back to full awareness and open eyes. But experience was a cruel mistress and so he waited, feeling himself fade in and out as tiredness won over and then abated. Hearing was always the first thing to come back. Beeping, hissing, dripping - the sounds of the place Jay hated the most. Well, not really, but it was the place he’d tell people he hated the most. If there was pain it would come next, but there were too many drugs for that. So instead, slowly, touch returned. Scratchy sheets and overly soft pillows. He was half reclined, he could tell, and his left side felt like it was locked down. He could move his feet though - a weird moment of realism in a half-dreaming state. And his right arm was warm.  
  
It was some time later, he was pretty sure, when he came around again. This time everything was a little sharper and he knew if he tried he could open his eyes. He was greeted by the generic ceiling tiles of every hospital ever. The angle of the bed also gave him an enticing look at a blank wall across from the bed. He was in one of the side rooms, a wall of glass on his right, out into the hospital proper, and a window, curtains drawn, on his left. The room was dark, light coming from the corridor outside but nowhere else. His left arm was pinned down and an experimental tilt of his head revealed a dark sling, tightly strapped.  
  
Someone else was breathing in the room. It was a testament to how out of it he was that a) it took him that long to register the second person and b) the first place he looked was to the couch under the window. When that turned up empty he rolled his head to the right and took a moment to look down. Red scrubs, red hair, soft breathing. Will was sitting in a chair, pulled up close to the side of the bed. Well, half of him was sitting in it. Everything above the waist was leaning forward, torso stretched in a way that couldn’t be comfortable, but allowing him to rest his head and shoulders on the bed, pushed up against Jay’s leg. His right arm was under his head, and his left had a grip of Jay’s arm. Not his hand, where an IV port was sticking out - Jay tried to control the shudder - but his forearm; Will’s hand warm against his skin. Will’s head was turned towards Jay and even though he was asleep his face was scrunched up, a line of worry across his forehead. His hair had all fallen to one side, out of its usual and (although Will would never admit it) carefully styled quaff.  
  
When Jay was 8 his appendix had burst in the middle of the night. He’d woken Will up screaming in pain and while Jay didn’t remember much of that night, or the day that followed, he did remember waking up in paediatrics, groggy, confused and scared, but with Will asleep in the chair next to him. The then 11 year old wasn’t even supposed to be in his room but a combination of worry for his little brother and an early fascination with medicine had led to him sneaking in from the waiting room. That night had contributed to both Jay’s phobia of needles and Will’s eventual career choice.  
  
Will, as if sensing the intense scrutiny he was under, shifted a little. He frowned deeper and Jay felt his hand squeeze his arm before loosening again. Will’s face was right next to Jay’s hand, Jay could feel his breath over his skin. Later he’d blame the drugs but right then it seemed like a great idea to reach out one finger and poke his brother on the tip of his nose. Will opened his eyes instantly and almost jerked backwards as he tried to focus on the finger right in front of him. Then he realised what had happened and jumped up, the chair scrapping back as Will pushed himself even closer to the bed, one hand on Jay’s good shoulder, the other on his wrist.  
  
‘Jay! You’re awake! How do you feel? Are you in pain?’ After a cursory glance at Jay’s face, Will’s eyes were glued to the monitors above the bed.  
  
‘My eyes are up here, you know,’ Jay joked, his voice disappointingly horse and cracking at the end. He tried to suppress a cough and was half successful.  
  
‘Here.’ A straw appeared at his lips and he took a few long sips, not caring that the water was more tepid than chilled. ‘Take it easy,’ Will warned, moving the cup further away, ‘Just a little at a time or you’ll be sick.’  
  
‘Thanks.’ His voice didn’t crack this time, although he still couldn’t seem to move above a whisper.  
  
Will just nodded as he glanced at the monitors again, then back to Jay. His eyes were a little red, Jay realised, like he’d been crying not long ago. ‘Are you in any pain?’ he asked again, reaching out, very gently, for the hand half covered by the sling. ‘Can you wiggle your fingers?’  
  
‘No pain,’ Jay confirmed, even as he watched himself to make sure he really was moving his fingers. He watched them curl around Will’s, no strength in the motion, but motion none the less. Will badly hid a sigh of relief.  
  
‘That’s good. That’s really good, Jay.’ He let his hand fall back onto Jay’s good arm as he snagged the chair leg with one foot and sank back into it. His free hand ran through his hair, making it stick up even more. ‘Do you remember what happened?’  
  
Jay nodded silently, thinking back. ‘Angela shot me. Is she okay?’  
  
Anger flashed across his brother’s face and he glanced towards the door - a tell to where the woman probably was. ‘She’s fine.’ The hand resting on Jay’s arm was flexing and relaxing. Will looked tired, shoulders hunched and eyes focused on the middle distance.  
  
‘Hey.’ Jay slowly pulled his arm out from under Will’s hand and wrapped his fingers around his bicep, squeezing with what little strength he had. ‘I’m fine, Will. I’m fine.’  
  
A hand landed on top of his and Will’s head dropped closer to the blankets, so Jay couldn’t see his face any more. ‘You really scared me this time, Jay.’ Will’s voice was thick and wet. ‘You really did.’  
  
‘Was it that bad?’ Jay had vague memories of pain, and blood, and a sense of floating away, but comparably he felt pretty good right now. His arm seemed to the be the only thing bandaged up, and even that was working.  
  
Will’s head nodded up and down, his fingers squeezing Jay’s. ‘The bullet nicked an artery. You were in surgery for four hours. You coded from blood loss. Your team kept asking me if you were going to be okay. And I didn’t…I couldn’t tell..’ he trailed off with a loud sniff, his hand letting go to swipe angrily at his eyes. He still wouldn’t look up.  
  
Coded. Legally dead for however long it took them to get him back. The thought didn’t really bother Jay. Death was a part of being a soldier - you saw it, felt it, dealt it out; all day every day. Being a cop in Chicago wasn’t very different. The idea that he’d been dead was pretty abstract - he wasn’t dead now. He was here, up and talking. But if there was one thing he knew, from years of dealing with it, it was that death fell much more harshly on family than it did on the person involved. The buddies he’d lost in the war - they hadn’t sat around wondering when their ticket would get punched. They hadn’t tried to stop it when the time came, either. Their families…. It was the part that still haunted his dreams the most.  
  
Will’s shoulders were shaking less now and when he spoke his voice was steadier. ‘I’m sorry, man, I’m supposed to be holding it together.’ He sniffed loudly and finally looked up, eyes watery but tears gone. ‘It’s just really good to see you awake.’ Alive went unsaid.  
  
Jay would have really liked to talk that out a little, offer some concrete reassurance that he wasn’t going anywhere. But he could feel himself fading already. He slid his hand further up Will’s arm, cupping the side of face like Will did to him when he was trying to subtly check for a head wound or a fever. His eyes were only half open now. ‘I’m sorry, Will. I’m sorry I scared you. But I’m fine, I promise. I’m right here.’  
  
Will just nodded, smiling as Jay’s eyes slid shut and took a few seconds to open again. ‘Yeah, you are.’ He took Jay’s hand and put it back on the bed, keeping it in his own. ‘Go back to sleep, brother, you need it.’


	2. Just A Little Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jay doesn't get sick. But he does sometimes get cold...

Will flicked through the multiple keys on the bunch, trying to find the right one one-handed. In his other hand was a take-out tray with two servings of Jay’s favourite Tomato and Chilli soup, from the Mom and Pop restaurant down the road. The text had come in about 45 minutes ago, just as he was leaving the hospital.  
  
‘Are you done with shift. Will you bring me soup?’ - Jay  
  
‘Why, are you sick? What’s wrong?’ - Will  
  
‘Not sick just cold. Please?’ - Jay  
  
‘Give me 30 minutes.’ - Will  
  
Jay didn’t get sick, as he was quick to tell anyone who’d listen. Will always rolled his eyes but in reality it was pretty true. Jay wasn’t the kind to pick up random colds and flus, despite the varied and usually disgusting people he met on a daily basis. Will had spent plenty of unbilled medical hours on his brother, but always for injuries. He hadn’t seen Jay sick since he was a kid.  
  
Finally getting the right key, he shrugged his medical bag further up his shoulder and unlocked the door. Jay’s apartment door opened straight into the living room, a small kitchenette further back and the two bedroom doors off to the left, flanking the flat screen. There was a light on the kitchen, but the main area was dark. Jay was nowhere at first glance.  
  
‘Jay?’ Will called, making his way around the back of the couch towards the kitchen. Dropping the soup containers on the counter he almost missed the rather pathetic cough coming from the supposedly empty living area. Rounding the couch revealed a sorry sight. Only Jay’s eyes were visible, a beanie pulled down low on his forehead and what Will suspected to be every blanket in the apartment piled on top of him, covering him right up to the nose. He was shivering slightly and didn’t even try to hide it when Will knelt down next to him. ‘Hey, buddy. So you’re not sick, huh?’ Will spoke gently and reached straight for the back of Jay’s neck, looking for a fever. Rather than hot though, Jay’s skin was cool to the touch, and the shivering got worse against his hand. Despite it Jay still glared at him.  
  
‘I’m not sick.’ His teeth were chattering. ‘I’m cold. I tackled a perp into the river.’  
  
‘You what?!’ It was November and Chicago was in the usual grip of icy hell. ‘Why the hell did you do that?!’  
  
Another glare and more teeth chattering. ‘Yeah, you’re so right Will, I should have let that serial rapist escape. Then I wouldn’t have gotten a little wet.’  
  
‘ _A little wet_ ,’ Will muttered, but he pulled the blankets back up around Jay’s ear and patted his shoulder. ‘Good job, all the same.’  
  
Jay just nodded, burrowing further down. ‘Did you bring the soup?’ He coughed again, his whole body rocking a little with the force.  
  
‘Yeah, I did, from Tony’s.’ Normally that would have elicited a response but Jay just closed his eyes and nodded again. ‘But before I give it to you I want to check you over, you might have hypothermia.’  
  
‘The EMTs checked, I don’t.’  
  
‘Yeah,’ Will agreed sarcastically, as he opened his med bag and dug around for a thermometer, ‘Because I’m totally taking some roadside diagnosis for gospel.’  
  
‘I’m telling Gabby Dawson you said that.’ Jay squirmed away as the thermometer tip went into his ear but Will just ignored him.  
  
’96.7’ he read off after the little machine beeped. ‘Could be worse, you’re above the threshold for hypothermia, but not by much. How long were you in the river for?’  
  
The blankets moved in a way that suggested Jay had shrugged. He’d closed his eyes again. ‘Don’t know, a few minutes at least. The guy kept trying to drown me so he could get away. I had to knock him half out just to drag us to the edge.’  
  
Will took a second to digest that and then made a face. ‘How much river water did you swallow, Jay? That stuff is filthy - you need bloods done.’ He knew the reaction that would get and sure enough Jay’s eyes flew open, head shaking.  
  
‘No, I don’t. I’m fine, I just need to warm up. You brought the soup now leave me alone.’ The blanket went over his head this time and Will sighed. Jay didn’t like being taken care of, never had, but a lifetime of it had taught Will to ignore him and just get on with it.  
  
‘Yeah, sure, Jay, whatever you say.’ Will packed away the thermometer and pushed the bag under the coffee table. Then, with one more glance down, went back to the kitchen to heat up the soup. Jay seemed to be dozing when he came back a few minutes later, two hot bowls quickly put down. ‘Come on, buddy, you have to sit up if you want to eat.’ Will shook his brother’s shoulder gently, getting a groan and a slow blink for his trouble. ‘Hey there.’ He grinned as Jay scrunched his face into an annoyed frown. ‘Come on - I’m so not giving you mouth to mouth if you choke.’ Pulling two of the blankets off the top of the pile Will dug around until he found Jay’s arms and helped the younger man manoeuvrer himself up into a sitting position. Most of the blankets stayed in Jay’s lap, while Will tucked the other two around his shoulders.  
  
Jay pouted throughout but sighed happily as Will placed a hot bowl in his hands. He burrowed a little deeper into the couch, just cupping the heat and letting the steam reach his nose. Will took the other bowl and, toeing off his shoes, settled himself next to the mound of blankets and baby brother.  
  
‘Thank you.’  
  
It was quiet, and Will almost didn’t hear it over the clank of his own spoon. He grinned into his soup and shuffled himself a little closer, bumping up against Jay’s shoulder. ‘Any time, bro.’ A few quiet moments of eating were interrupted by the sound of Jay’s ringtone - the noise coming from the bedroom. Jay groaned softly.  
  
‘I left it in there drying off. It’s probably work.’  
  
But Will was already up, soup back on the coffee table, heading towards the room. ‘I got it, don’t move.’ He found the phone lying on a towel, the screen lit up with Voight’s name. ‘Hi Sergeant, it’s Will here.’  
  
‘Will,’ Voight’s gravelly voice greeted, ‘I’m shocked - did Halstead actually follow an order and go to the hospital?’  
  
Will, who’d been making his way back to the couch froze, turning a glare on Jay. His brother, seeing the phone to his ear and guessing what had just been said pulled his soup bowl up in front of his face. ‘You’re so dead,’ Will mouthed at him, jabbing a finger in his direction before turning his attention back to the phone. ‘Ah, no, Sergeant, we’re actually at Jay’s apartment. He called me over.’  
  
Will could hear Voight chuckling down the line. ‘Figures. So what’s the prognosis, doc, will he live?’ Voight didn’t sound concerned in the slightest which reassured Will that at least Jay probably wasn’t hiding other more serious injuries. The hospital visit was probably more a precaution than a necessity, since he hadn’t pushed for it.  
  
‘It’s difficult to tell right now, under all those blankets.’ Jay was giving him an incredulous look and Will struggled not to laugh. ‘But I think he’ll be alright in the morning.’

‘That’s reassuring. Remind your brother he owes me a report - I’ll expect it in two days’ time.’ There was a pause and then Voight asked ‘I assume you’re staying with him?’  
  
‘Yeah, I will.’  
  
‘Good.’ And then he hung up.  
  
Will stared at the phone for a second - he wasn’t totally used to Voight’s abrupt way of doing things - but then remembered what had been said and turned his attention back to his brother.  
  
Jay was going for innocent but the shivering and the blankets made it more like puppy eyes. ‘I’m fine, Will, you said so yourself.’ There was a definite whine in his voice.  
  
‘Voight told you to go to the hospital. And instead you text me to bring you soup.’  
  
‘Will-‘ Whatever argument Jay was about to make was cut off with an extended coughing fit. The soup, or what was left of it, would have gone flying if Will hadn’t grabbed the bowl, dumping it on the table as he fitted himself in next to Jay on the couch.  
  
‘Slow breaths, buddy, just take slow breaths.’ He rubbed one hand across Jay’s back, the other bracing his chest to keep the younger man upright. ‘You’re alright, just breathe.’ It took a minute for the coughing to stop and Jay slumped forward a little when he was done, eyes closed. Will just kept rubbing his back, giving him time to recover.  
  
‘I’m alright. I’m fine.’ Jay’s voice was horse and he coughed again to try and clear it.  
  
‘You’re fine,’ Will agreed, backing off a little as Jay sat back up. ‘But you do need to rest. How about you call it a night? Do you have a hot water bottle?’ He got a look that screamed ‘really?’ for that and just rolled his eyes. ‘Alright tough guy, do you have any heat packs, for when you’re done in the gym?’  
  
Jay chuckled and nodded tiredly. ‘In the cupboard over the fridge.’ Then he eyed the five feet to the bedroom, and the ten feet behind him to the kitchen. ‘Will you bring me a bottle of water too?’  
  
Will hid his grin and nodded. ‘Yeah, course I will. Go and get settled - leave those blankets, I’ll carry them in for you in a minute.’  
  
Ten minutes later and Jay was in bed, three heat packs in with him and most of the blankets piled back up on top. The shivering had mostly stopped and his temperature was slowly climbing back up. He was all but completely asleep and Will indulged in tucking a corner of the duvet a little tighter around his baby brother. ‘I’ll be in the spare room - just shout if you need something.’  
  
‘You can go home.’  
  
It was barely a whisper and Will just ignored it. Instead he laid a hand on Jay’s head, now devoid of beanie, and ruffled his hair very gently. ‘Go to sleep. I’ll be right next-door.’


	3. Police Resources

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for Jay to look out for Will...

Will took a moment to assess what was happening here. He was less than a block from the district; less than a block from an area teeming with police, squad cars, body cams, the whole lot. And here, less than a block away, he was being mugged. He hadn’t realised, at first, that that was what was happening. He’d been walking along the street, heading towards the precinct. Jay had called earlier and explained that Intelligence was working on a case involving a black market plastic surgery ring. They needed to get a better handle on what was going on, and although the clinic Will had worked at in New York had been totally legit, he did have a good understanding of the business. Since it was his day off Jay had bribed him with the promise of lunch if he came in and played consultant for an hour or two. He’d caught the train and set out to walk the last few streets when something had pushed hard against him, just as he was passing a small alley. Before he really knew what was going on he’d been bundled into the alley, out of view of the street, by what turned out to be two teenagers. One of them, clearly the aggressor, shoved his shoulder, pushing him against a brick wall.

‘Give us your wallet, now!’

Will, still not totally believing this was happening, held up his hands in a sign of peace. ‘Calm down, buddy. You don’t want to do this, believe me.’ He knew it was kind of a stupid thing to do, knew the rule was to just give up whatever silly thing they wanted and get away. He knew that but he did it anyway, and three seconds later a gun was in his face.

‘Oh don’t I?’ Thug number 1 brandished the gun on its side, like he was filming a movie. ‘See I think I do, posh boy - give it over, now, or I’ll stick two in you!’

Alright, thought Will, no more playing tough guy. He made the rookie mistake of reaching straight for his pocket and the gun jabbed dangerously at him.

‘You pull on me I’ll pop you, I swear I will!’

‘Woah, woah!’ Will held his hands back up, heart racing. ‘I don’t have a gun, I swear. My wallet’s in my pocket, I’m just going to get it for you.’

Thug 1 seemed to consider that and then gestured to his companion. ‘Mikey, pull it out, and anything else. He got a nice watch?’

On any other day Will would have laughed, since his watch had cost ten dollars in Target after the last one fell victim to projectile vomit. But the gun, and the twitchiness of its owner, was keeping him pretty focused on the present. ‘Mikey’ shoved him hard as he came up, slamming his head against the wall behind and then starting a rough search of his pockets. Wallet, phone, keys inspected for a car fob and then dropped. Since Will was wearing the same jacket he always did a quick search of that pulled out his medical ID. Mikey frowned at it and then looked up at his partner.

  
  


'Dan!' Mikey held out the card, lanyard dangling from it, 'He's a doctor – this says Chicago Med.'

  
  


Dan grinned as he took the card, eyeing it but keeping the gun on Will. 'A doctor, huh, posh boy?' The gun jabbed closer and Will felt his heart rate go a little higher. 'I reckon we hit the jackpot here, Mikey – this card probably lets him get at the drugs, right?' The gun hit Will in the shoulder and Will closed his eyes for a second, praying. 'That right, doc? Is that what this does?'

  
  


Will had a decision to make there. The answer was no, of course, but whether that would go well for him was up for debate. 'It doesn't,' he said, truthfully. 'That lets me move through staff doors at the hospital. The drugs need a lock code, and two people, to access them. You can't just open the door and take them.'

  
  


Dan seemed to take a moment to mull that over, eyeing the card and Will. In the meantime Mikey was busy rifling through Will's wallet, examining cards and cash alike. He seemed the more nervous of the two and kept glancing down the alley, towards the street.

  
  


‘We gotta go, man, you’re taking too long!’

‘Calm down, Mikey, who’s gonna be looking down here?’ Dan turned his attention back to Will, eyeing him. ‘You got anything else on you, doc?’ The gun hit him right on the sternum this time. ‘Don’t lie to me!’

‘Nothing,’ Will shook his head and prayed they’d leave with what they had. ‘You have my wallet, my phone - I don’t have anything else.’ The fist wrapped gun hitting him in the side was as unexpected as it was violent and Will doubled over, trying to keep on his feet as he gasped through the sudden pain.

‘Dan?!’ Mikey sounded alarmed but his companion just laughed and Will made the mistake of looking up. The gun butt across his temple sent him to his knees, little sparks of white dancing across his vision before disappearing again.

Salvation came in the form of sirens. More than likely it was just some call out, squad cars pulling away from the district into traffic, but it spooked his two attackers and before Will could really register what had happened he found himself alone. He was still on his knees, head and stomach aching, and he took a second to assess. A hand to his temple revealed blood, although not an alarming amount, as he dabbed it with his sleeve. A small cut then. He hadn’t lost consciousness and his vision was clear again, so it looked like he’d escaped risk of a concussion. The hit to the side was only enough to leave some bruises in the morning - he’d taken worse beatings.

Which left him with a choice to make. He had to report the crime, obviously. And he was less than a block from a police district. But inside that district was one very protective brother, not to mention a whole team of cops to back him up. Jay would make sure his report was treated with all the seriousness of a terrorist attack, Will knew. But then he couldn’t travel all the way to another police district, just to avoid Jay; that would be ridiculous. And, the thought just struck him, since he was supposed to be meeting Jay, and he didn’t have his phone to either text and cancel or answer any calls Jay might make to him, if he didn’t go in now there’d be a search party out for him within the hour. Sighing, because he really didn’t want to deal with the fuss this was about to create, Will slowly, painfully, climbed back to his feet. His medical ID was lying on the ground in front of him, his keys a few feet away, so he pocketed them and, after one last dab at the slowly clotting cut on his head, he made his way out of the alley and towards the district.

As usual Sargent Platt was standing behind her desk, writing up reports and ignoring the collection of uniforms vying for her attention. To their credit the patrolmen did clear a path for him, but none of them were people he knew and none of them gave him a glance. ‘Sargent, can you buzz me upstairs, please?’

‘Oh good, it’s the other one-‘ Platt was obviously about to make a joke at his (and probably Jay’s) expense but as soon as she lifted her head her eyes widened and she dropped the pen she’d been holding. ‘Doc, what happened to you?!’

Will held up a hand, trying to look like he hadn’t just been held at gunpoint and hit across the head. ‘I’m fine, Sargent, really. I was on my way to meet Jay and…well, I got mugged, I guess. Can you buzz me up now?’

Platt just stared at him, eyeing him like she thought he might collapse. When he didn’t she reached for her phone, still staring at him, and dialled a number quickly. ‘Hey Chuckles,’ she said as soon as the line connected, ‘Your brother just got mugged and he’s bleeding on my desk - come down and get him, will you?’ Then she hung up.

Now it was Will’s turn to stare at her. ‘Why would you do that?!’ he asked incredulously, even as the sound of pounding feet could be heard on the stairs. They both turned in time to see Jay burst through the metal gate, practically tripping down the stairs. Ruzak, Atwater and Lindsey were all hurrying after him, although at a slightly safer pace, and Will just rolled his eyes as Jay skidded to a halt in front of him.

‘I’m fine, Jay, calm down.’ That was all he got out before Jay’s hands were on him. One on his shoulder and one gently probing the head wound. That one Will batted away. ‘I’m fine. Seriously.’

‘You are not,’ was all Jay said as he stepped a little further back, looking him up and down. ‘Tell me what happened.’

Will sighed and gave the shortest report possible - they were garnering a lot of attention and he didn’t like all the stares. ‘Two teenagers pushed me into an alley and took my phone and wallet - about half a block from here. One of them had a gun.’ He could feel Jay tense through the hand still on his shoulder. ‘One of them clocked me on the side of the head - it’s just a cut.’

‘We’ll check out the site,’ Atwater said, he and Ruzek were already moving towards the door, ‘Where were you coming from, Will?’

‘The L-train, but I really don’t think there’s anything to find-‘ They were already gone and Jay was pulling gently on his arm.

‘Come upstairs - we need a full report and you need medical attention.’

‘I _am_ medical attention,’ Will pointed out, a bit sulkily, but he gladly allowed Jay and a much calmer Erin to lead him upstairs into the break-room. ‘I just need a first aid box and a mirror.’

‘I’m on it.’ Erin was gone in a second.

Jay pulled out a chair, half forcing Will into it and then pulled one up close for himself. Jay was doing that unwavering attention stare that he’d learnt in sniper school. It made everyone uncomfortable, even Will, who was used to it. ‘Are you sure you’re okay?’

Will sighed. Now that he was sitting down, safe, he could feel the adrenaline wearing off. He took a few deep breaths in the hopes of staving off the inevitable shaking, and nodded. ‘I am Jay, really. I’m a little shaken up, sure, but apart from the cut and some bruises, they didn’t do any harm.’

‘Okay.’ Jay ran a hand up and down Will’s arm - neither would admit the comfort it provided. ‘Just sit for a second, then you can tell me everything.’

‘Jay, Will.’ Voight’s voice came from the door, where he and Antonio were looking in. ‘I heard what happened - you okay doc?’

‘I’m fine, thank you Sargent. Although I think Jay is misappropriating Intelligence resources.’

Voight just chuckled as Jay gave him a look that clearly said ‘try and stop me’. ‘I think we can spare the man power for an hour, don’t sweat it.’ He moved back as Erin reappeared, a first aid kit, a small standing mirror and a bottle of water in her hands. She set them all down in front of Will but spoke to Jay. ‘Mouse is pinging Will’s phone. He’ll let us know when he has a location.’

Jay nodded at her while Will thanked her, taking a long swig of water before angling the mirror to get a look at his temple. There was a trail of blood down the side of his face and now that he was seeing it he kind of forgave Jay for freaking out a little. It was nothing compared to how head wounds could bleed, but it didn’t look great either. An alcohol swab took care of the worst of it and three steri-strips closed off the still slightly oozing cut. Jay watched him through it, while Erin reappeared at his shoulder with an ice pack wrapped in a tea towel. Without really thinking about it Will thanked her and put it gratefully against his lower ribs, where he could feel bruises starting. It was only in the silence that followed he realised she’d probably meant it for his face. And now Jay was staring at him again, but with an irritated look in his eye.

‘One of them hit me in the stomach, Jay, I’ll live.’ Will aimed for frustrated indifference, knowing it would convince his brother this really wasn’t serious. Jay seemed to be a little more keyed up than he’d anticipated though, because the next thing he knew he was being subjected to a check for broken ribs. ‘Jay!’ He tried to push the probing hands away, but Jay evaded him. ‘I would know if I broke a rib, for God’s sake, stop.’ Jay ignored him until he’d had a good feel up Will’s entire right side, and then put the ice pack back under his shirt.

‘I think you should go to Med and let someone look you over.’

Will just rolled his eyes again. ‘Oh, you do, do you, _Dr._ Halstead? This coming from the guy who has a standing order with all the local EMTs that he’s only to be taken to a hospital if there’s a ‘real and immediate’ threat to his life.’ Jay gold-fished at him for a second while Erin muttered ‘busted’ under her breath. ‘Yeah,’ Will continued, ‘I do know about that - the EMTs like me a lot more than they do you.’

‘Everyone loves me-‘ Jay was arguing back as Mouse made his way into the room. A laptop was balanced precariously in one hand and he patted Will gently on the shoulder.

‘You alright, man?’ he asked, as he dumped the laptop and pulled out his phone.

‘I’m fine, Mouse, thanks.’

‘Good,’ Mouse turned straight to Jay, ‘I got a location from the phone - Atwater and Ruzek are heading there now.’ He cut Jay off before he could interrupt. ‘Voight said you’re to stay here with Will, the guys will bring them in.’ He turned back to Will. ‘I also froze all your cards - since we’ll probably have them back in an hour I didn’t want you to have the hassle of cancelling them. I can do that if you need.’

Will blinked while Jay had a silent conversation with Erin, arguing over following Atwater and Ruzek. ‘Don’t you need my banking details to freeze my cards?’ Will asked, and listened to Mouse laugh in a unconcerned way.

‘No, man, not at all. It’s all taken care of.’

Will might have questioned that, or maybe decidedly _not_ questioned it, but Jay interrupted, having finished glaring at an exasperated Erin. ‘Mouse, give me the address.’

‘Voight said-‘

‘Voight’s not here, give me the address.’

Mouse’s phone beeped and he grinned up at his friend. ‘Too late - they’re on their way back, with the two perps.’

Jay just glared at him, which Mouse ignored, and pointed to Will. ‘You stay here, I’ll be back in a minute.’ Then he disappeared, a sighing but indulgent Erin patting Will’s back as she followed her partner out the door.

Will looked at Mouse. ‘Should I be concerned?’

Mouse waved a hand, tapping away on his phone. ‘Nah, Erin’s got him. She won’t let him kill anyone.’ He glanced up at Will’s silence and chuckled. ‘I’m kidding, Will, it’s fine. He won’t touch them, just scare them a little. Now if they’d actually hurt you-‘ Mouse shook his head, not completely joking, ‘That would be a different conversation.’

Will huffed, because he knew it was completely true. ‘I’m supposed to the big brother, you know. He acts like he is.’

‘He’s got the training,’ Mouse pointed out, like that explained it all. And in truth it sort of did. ‘And besides,’ Mouse’s tone turned teasing, ‘I’ve seen you shouting up the ED when he comes in injured - pot, kettle, black, man.’

Will had to concede that one, because the closest he’d ever come to blows with Choi - a doctor he normally got on well with - had been over Jay.

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, Mouse tapping away between his laptop and his phone, before Jay reappeared, without Erin this time, and dropped Will’s phone and wallet on the table in front of him. ‘Tada,’ he announced, sitting back in his chair.

‘Are they both still alive?’ Will opened the wallet, accounting for everything that was in it and then unlocking his phone to flick through messages.

‘Yes, they are,’ Jay confirmed, kicking a laughing Mouse under the table. ‘They’re also going on the record as our fastest ever arrest, and maybe the stupidest we’ve ever caught.’

‘Oh really?’ Mouse asked, looking up in interest.

Jay nodded. ‘Apart from leaving Will’s phone so we could easily trace it, Atwater and Ruzek found them sitting in their apartment, phones, wallets and jewellery piled up on the coffee table. The gun - which wasn’t loaded, by the way,’ he said as an aside to Will, ‘dropped on the floor next to the couch. They’re both stoned and when Atwater broke the door down one of them tried to climb out the kitchen window, which doesn’t open.’ Jay chuckled and Mouse outright laughed. ‘He has a bloody nose now.’

‘Bloody or broken?’ Will asked, instantly in medical mode, ‘Has he seen a doctor? I can-‘ He was half out of his chair but Jay was quick to grab his arm.

‘He will see a doctor but it certainly won’t be you - don’t even think about it.’

Mouse tapped his space bar with a kind of finality and announced ‘I’ve unfrozen your cards, they’re good to go again.’ Ignoring the silent power struggle going on between the two brothers.

‘Thank you, Mouse,’ Will said, giving up and sitting back down with a slight wince. The ice pack reappeared in front of him and he nodded his thanks.

‘That’s not the fastest arrest I’ve ever had, but it’s up there.’ Will jumped a little at Voight’s voice, but Jay and Mouse didn’t react beyond an eyebrow raise on Jay’s part.

‘You’ve had faster than under an hour, Sarge?’

Voight laughed more openly than Will had ever seen. ‘A guy tried to rob a bank I was inside once - under five minutes. You’ll have to get up earlier than that to beat me Halstead.’ He leaned against the door frame and gestured to the two brothers. ‘Jay, take Will home, and stay with him.’

‘Wait,’ Will pulled him up as he turned to leave, ‘I’m supposed to be helping you with some case? That’s why I came down. And I’m fine, I can do that now.’

Voight just shook his head - not a man who issued orders twice. ‘That can wait, Will. Go home, take a minute. Jay.’ He didn’t bother repeating his instructions there, Jay wasn’t arguing. In fact he was already up, a hand going under Will’s arm to gently tug him up too.

‘Sure thing Sarge,’ he agreed, waiting until Voight left to hiss at Will, ‘Don’t argue - some of us didn’t already have the afternoon off and aren’t complaining.’

Will rolled his eyes but he was starting to get tired now, and the peace of his own apartment was too good to pass up. So he said goodbye to Mouse and let Jay lead him down to the carpark. His hands started shaking half way to his place, and he clasped them together to try and hide it. But Jay noticed, of course.

‘It’s just adrenaline.’ They both spoke at the same time and Jay chuckled.

‘Yeah, guess you know that.’

Will nodded, staring at his hands and feeling that slightly sick, shaking feeling of calming down. ‘I have a high-adrenaline job too, you know. I might not get shot at but coming down from the high of having your hands inside someone’s chest is pretty real.’

‘I get that.’ Jay’s voice was quiet, a little distant, and he took the turn onto Will’s street on autopilot. Will had seen him drift before, get caught in memories. He knew better than to ask - years of it had taught him Jay wouldn’t talk; he’d leave if Will pushed hard enough. He hoped there was someone Jay spoke to about it, but he suspected there wasn’t.

The trip out of the car and up to the apartment was completed in silence, although Jay kept a hand on Will’s back up the three flights of stairs. Will didn’t shake him off, even though it was tempting because seriously, it was just bruising. But it was Jay’s way of being there and he didn’t want to shake that off.

As soon as they were in the door Will made for the couch, really wanting to sit down. Jay moved around efficiently behind him - cupboards opening and closing, the fridge, the clink of glass. When he rounded the couch he had an armful of things. An ice pack, wrapped in a tea towel, went straight to Will, two beers onto the table, along with a bag of chips. Jay eyed him. ‘You want some painkillers? I assume you have some in the bathroom?’

Will shook his head. ‘Don’t need any, it’s fine. Besides, I’d much prefer that beer.’ Jay grinned as he flopped down on the couch, handing over one of the bottles and grabbing the remote. There was always hockey of some kind on and it only took him a second to find a rerun of the Hawks.

‘You don’t have to stay, you know? I’m fine.’

Jay gave him a side eye and took another swig of beer. ‘I’m staying, don’t bother.’

‘Thanks.’ Jay tipped his bottle in Will’s direction and then turned his attention back to the game. Will did the same.


	4. Hell Of A First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An episode tag for the backdoor Med pilot, where they blew up the ED. Because again, we never saw Jay and Will reuniting once it was all over.

It had been hours; hours since he’d rang Will, so relieved to hear his brother’s voice, but so anxious to hear he was inside the building. And then when Will had told him what they were dealing with, potential bio-terrorism, ‘worse than ebola’. Jay knew there was no convincing Will to leave, to go somewhere safe. Jay wouldn’t. And while Will might have spent his early 20s in med school instead of war, he was no coward when it came to helping people. Jay didn’t even try. He just concentrated on the job, on finding out who did this so he could get his brother and everyone else out of there.

Hours later - broken doors and armed raids and bullets spent later - Jay and Erin pulled back up to the hospital entrance. It was still a mess of first responder vehicles, vying for space in front of news vans and worried civilians. Erin slid their car in between two fire engines and parked up by the temporary command centre. Most of Intelligence was already inside but Erin didn’t immediately move out of the car.

‘Go and find Will,’ she said, smiling at his look of surprise. ‘Come and join us after. I’ll tell Voight where you’ve gone.’

Jay didn’t argue, he thanked her and jumped out of the car, doing a quick scan of the crowds milling around. Some people were being treated, some were giving statements, a mix of hospital staff, civilians, firefighters. But no brother. Jay did spot Matt Casey, however, surrounded by several other members of House 51. Casey turned to him when he jogged over. He looked tired - smoke stained skin and his coat pulled open. They had been inside the whole time, Jay knew, and he offered a hand to shake, which Casey took, looking a little surprised.

‘Halstead.’ Casey spoke first. ‘Heard your team got the guys?’

‘Yeah, we did. Heard you guys were kept busy in there?’

Casey nodded, a small smile for the understatement. ‘Yeah, we were, alright. Do you need something?’

Jay glanced around one last time, just to be sure. ‘Yeah, I was wondering if you’d seen my brother? He was in the ED but I don’t know where he’s got to now.’

Casey frowned and Jay realised he’d never met Will at the same time that Casey’s eyes lit up with recognition. ‘Dr. Halstead?’ Jay nodded. ‘Sorry, I didn’t make the connection - he’s your brother?’

‘Yeah, he is - he only started working here today.’

‘Hell of a first day.’ Casey looked back towards the ED entrance. ‘He was running things in there - didn’t look like he was badly hurt. He didn’t come out with the crowds, was still ordering people around the last time I saw him.’ Casey shrugged apologetically. ‘That was maybe fifteen minutes ago. Sorry.’

Jay shook his head. ‘No man, that’s great, thank you. I should have known he’d be bossing people around somewhere.’ He took in the battered, slightly bloody, crowd of firefighters, standing behind their Lieutenant. ‘All of yours okay?’ He nearly regretted asking it as he saw Casey, and everyone else in the little bunch, stiffen slightly.

‘Severide took the brunt of the initial blast. But he came out of surgery and it’s looking good.’

Jay knew Severide, better than any of the others from 51. Erin and he had had a thing for a while and Jay had spent a good bit of time in Mollys drinking with the Squad Lieutenant. He was easy to like, easy to hang out with; dedicated to his job above all else. Jay patted a hand on Casey’s arm. ‘I’m sorry he was hurt, Casey, but I’m glad he’s on the mend. As soon as things calm down here I’ll call in on him.’

Casey nodded, smiling again. ‘Thanks - he’ll appreciate that. And so do I. Now go and find your own brother.’

Jay nodded, smiling, and took off towards the entrance. He hadn’t been inside, since he wasn’t there when the doors were unlocked, but he wasn’t exactly unfamiliar with the aftermath of a grenade. Still, it shook him a little, to see another hospital bombed out like this. The damage wasn’t bad, relatively, but in Jay’s mind it was overlaid with much worse. He shook his head, clearing that away, and started towards the main desk. He could already hear Will’s voice.

‘April,’ his brother was saying, ‘Everyone is pretty much out now. You need to have that head looked at.’ Jay could see him now, although his back was turned - white coat not so white any more, and hair tossed. He was speaking to an attractive, dark skinned woman in blue scrubs.

‘Dr. Halstead,’ she was saying, in that voice women used on men who were being stupid, ‘Everyone is pretty much out now, you need to have that face looked at.’ Her hands were on her hips and Jay took an instant liking to her, perhaps a little giddy from seeing Will definitely up, walking and talking. Definitely alright and not dying of some unknown, horrible disease.

‘I’ve been telling him he needs to have his face looked at for years.’ Jay grinned widely as Will whipped around, his face splitting into a smile too.

‘Jay!’ Will came around the desk immediately and Jay caught him in a firm hug, closing his eyes and indulging, for just a second, in squeezing his brother closer to him.

Until Will grunted in pain.

‘You’re hurt?!’ Jay stepped back quickly, hands on his brother’s shoulders as he looked him up and down. Will had several small cuts across the side of his face - Jay reached up to turn his head and look at them - they were dirty but not bleeding any more. He couldn’t see anything else and reached down under the white coat to run a hand along Will’s ribs, but that was where his brother drew the line, grabbing his wrist and shaking his head.

‘I’m fine - just some bruises from, you know, getting blown up. No real harm done.’ Will glanced behind him, grinning. ‘April, meet my baby brother Jay.’ He grinned wider at Jay’s annoyed look. ‘Sorry, I meant _Detective Halstead_. Jay, this is April Sexton - a very awesome ED nurse.’

Both April and Jay rolled their eyes and April smiled widely as she held out a hand. ‘It’s nice to meet you, Detective. Good to know Dr. Halstead has someone to bail him out - he strikes me as the type to get in trouble.’

‘You’re a good judge of character, then.’ Jay agreed in mock seriousness, ignoring Will’s affronted ‘Hey!’.

‘Don’t think I’ve forgotten about your head, Sexton,’ Will pointed towards her, ‘Go and get it seen to, now.’

April held up her hands in defeat. ‘I’m going upstairs to check on Kelly anyway, I’ll catch someone up there.’ She looked at Jay, ‘Your brother has been running around without stopping - make sure someone looks him over, will you?’ She waited for Jay to agree and then headed towards the stairs, picking her way through bits of rubble.

Jay turned back to Will. ‘You always say nurses are really the ones in charge.’

‘And that is the absolute truth,’ Will agreed, following Jay as he turned towards the entrance.

Jay watched his brother stop when they walked into the sunshine, letting the light hit his face and taking several deep breaths. The air wasn’t all that fresh outside but it was certainly an improvement on the smoke and iron filled air of the ED. ‘You good?’ he asked, laying a hand on Will’s shoulder as they started moving again.

Will nodded. ‘Yeah, I am. Just…’ he seemed lost for words and Jay filled it in for him.

‘Just savouring it?’ Will nodded. ‘Yeah, I get that.’ He kept the guiding hand on his brother’s shoulder and steered them in the direction of the nearest ambulance. It took Will a minute to notice so they were most of the way there before he stopped, shaking his head.

‘No, no way - I’m fine, Jay.’

Jay tugged gently. ‘You’ll have to give a statement, since you were the one that initially identified the threat. Voight won’t take a statement until you’re cleared by medical.' Jay tugged gently. 'Just let them look at you and tell me you’re fine. Then you can go, I promise.’

Will pouted, honest to God pouted, at him but then nodded and continued walking. ‘Fine - two minutes to clear me, since I know I’m fine. Then the statement - _quickly_ \- I have patients to check on and I’d really love a shower.’

It did only take five minutes for Brett, who Jay had called over specifically, to clear Will. She checked his ribs and breathing, declared nothing broken, and offered to clean up the cuts on his face, which Will declined. ‘I’ll clean them up inside, when I have a minute.’ Jay would have argued but Brett agreed readily enough, so he kept his silence.

Then he walked his brother over to the command centre, letting Will bitch to him the whole way about how he had patients to see and this better not take too long. He mercifully stopped that line of thought as they entered the main office, where all of Intelligence were gathered. Voight looked up as the door opened and held out a hand to shake.

‘Will, it’s good to see you standing. And thanks for the heads up on what we were dealing with, it really helped contain the situation.’

Will shook back, nodding to the rest of the team. ‘I’m just glad it didn’t turn out as bad as we thought.’

It took over an hour to get a full statement out of Will. Jay coached him through it, prompting details and asking pointed questions when Will got side tracked or couldn’t think what to say next. Erin took notes and Voight just listened. When they were done Will jumped up, grimacing slightly but brushing off Jay’s concern before he could even speak.

‘Can I go? I really do need to get back inside.’

Voight nodded. ‘Yeah, doc, you can go. Thank you, we’ll call if we have follow up.’

‘Thanks.’ Will was already making for the door. ‘Jay, I’ll see you later,’ he called over his shoulder as he disappeared.

‘You two are so alike.’ Erin laughed as she said it, watching where the oldest Halstead had disappeared. Then laughed again at Jay’s face. ‘You are!’

  
  


People never said they were alike. In fact, people usually couldn’t believe they were related at all. Height, hair colour, eye colour - there was nothing physical to indicate the relation; Jay was all their father and Will all their mother. And they’d chosen very different paths in life - the only thing their careers really had in common was the adrenaline rush.

  
  


‘You’d be running around right after getting blown up too,’ Erin clarified, pointing out the door as she moved to type up her notes, ‘You’re both as stubborn as each other.’

Jay just stuck his tongue out at her childishly and then went to do some of his own paperwork.

Hours later again he was finally sticking the key into his door lock. He’d had longer days, harder days with much worse outcomes. But still, all he wanted was a cold beer, something mindless on TV and then to crash for as many hours as he could. The kitchen light was on, suggesting someone had finally convinced Will to leave the hospital, but the apartment was quiet. Anyone else might have thought they were alone, but Jay’s senses were plenty heightened enough to know there was someone else in the room. Rounding the couch revealed Will sitting on the edge of the cushions, elbows on knees and head in his hands. It was a pose Jay had seen a thousand times, but not on his brother.

‘You okay?’

Will started a little and straightened quickly, having obviously missed Jay coming into the apartment. The cuts on his face had been cleaned, as had the rest of him that had been covered in soot, but his eyes were a little faraway - a look Jay was all too familiar with.

‘What?’ Will squinted at Jay and then seemed to come back to himself a little. ‘I mean yeah, I am. Sorry, just tired.’

Tired and shell shocked, Jay filled in in his head. Exhaling deeply he sat down, close enough for their knees to touch, watching Will go back to staring at the floor as he leaned back.

  
  


'Hell of a first day you've had.'

  
  


He was hoping for at least a smile but Will gave him nothing. Nothing except a choked off breath that probably would have been a sob. 'Yeah,' he eventually said, voice quiet. 'Yeah it was.'

  
  


'I don't need to tell you that it'll take a few days to process.' Jay was nobody's therapist but shock was very much in his wheel house.

  
  


Will lifted his head enough to glance back at Jay. ' _You're_ fine now.' He sounded a tiny bit resentful.

  
  


'I wasn't inside,' Jay pointed out, gently. 'I just spent most of the day running around.'

  
  


'But you've been inside before.' Will didn't bother explaining more than that. It was clear what he meant.

  
  


Jay shrugged. 'You get used to it.' He regretted it the minute he said it. It was glib, and not at all fair to the seriousness of the situation. He was searching for something else to say when Will spoke, head back down.

  
  


'I'm sorry Jay.'

  
  


Jay frowned. 'For what?'

  
  


His brother looked up again, eyes a little red now. 'For not being there – with mom, and dad. And when you came home. You were right – I should have been there. There's no excuse.'

  
  


'Aw, man-' Jay laid a hand on Will's back- 'Don't drag that up again. I shouldn't have said all that stuff, I was just mad. It's fine, seriously.'

  
  


'I'm your brother and I wasn't there when you needed me.' Will's voice was stronger now and he half turned, dislodging Jay's hand. 'I'm sorry.'

  
  


'Fine,' Jay nodded, really not wanting Will dwelling on that stuff right now, 'I accept your apology, whole and entire. Now how about a beer and the TV. Or do you just want to sleep?'

  
  


Will stared at him for another second, as though searching for the truth of his acceptance, before he slowly nodded. 'A beer and TV sounds great, I don't think I could sleep right now.'

  
  


Jay just nodded, clapping his brother on the shoulder as he stood. 'Yeah, I hear you. Give it an hour or two more for the adrenaline to wear off though and you'll be out like a light.'

  
  


Jay got the beers and settled himself, this time at the other end of the couch. Will put on a game and stared at it. Jay, keeping an eye on him from his periphery, knew he wasn't actually watching. The same way he wasn't drinking the beer he had warming in his hands.

  
  


'I think I'm going to stay.' Will spoke after a few minutes of silence.

  
  


'What?'

  
  


Will glanced at him, then went back to the TV. 'I think I'm going to stay – at Med. In Chicago.'

  
  


Jay smiled around his beer bottle. 'I think that would be good.'

  
  


Thirty minutes later Will was asleep. Jay didn't even think about waking him to move him, he just grabbed the blanket off Will's bed and draped it over the older man's sleeping form. He allowed himself a minute of watching Will, a minute to be thankful that they had both made it through the day. Having Will back in his life wasn't something he'd even thought about a month ago. But it was good, really good. And he didn't want to loose it.


	5. A 12 Stitch Scratch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jay just happens to be in the ED when some trouble goes down...

It was only a coincidence he was there at all. Jay had been called to the hospital to speak to a potential victim of domestic abuse - her boyfriend being a person of interest in a murder case. He’d just finished interviewing her - getting almost nothing and forced to give up - when he heard a shout. The shout turned quickly into screams and Jay was already moving before the first security guard ran past. Ducking out of his victim’s room he found a man, easily six foot four and clearly mad as hell, standing just away from the nurses station. He was swinging at Choi, who had engaged him while Clarke, a syringe in hand, approached from behind. By the time Jay reached them Clarke had already stabbed the syringe in, getting knocked back into the wall for his trouble, and Choi, along with two security guards, were holding the guy’s arms as he slowly lost consciousness. Jay jumped forward, adding his handcuffs to the mix, and within a second the man was cuffed and out cold.

‘Clarke, you good?’ Choi asked as he and Jay, along with two guards, lowered the guy to the ground.

‘Just winded, I’m fine,’ the med student assured.

Choi’s attention moved to behind Jay. ‘What about you, Will? Talk to me.’

Jay dropped the guy’s legs unceremoniously on the ground and spun around. Sure enough Will was on his ass by the desk, obviously having been thrown there. He was rubbing the back of his head with his right hand but, alarmingly, his left arm was covered in blood.

‘Will?!’ Jay exclaimed, at exactly the same time Will started talking.

‘I’m fine, Ethan. He just knocked me down.’

‘You’re bleeding, Will, stay down.’ Jay was already kneeling by him, taking his left arm gently, trying to see how bad the damage was.

‘I’m bleeding?’ Will peered at his arm, turning it a little. ‘Shit, I thought he missed me.’ Now that he’d noticed it, Will winced in pain.

‘What happened?’ Rhodes appeared from the stairwell, taking in the scene in a second and looking to Choi.

Choi, now checking the unconscious man’s pulse, nodded towards the brothers. ‘See to Will, Connor, I’ve got this guy. Someone get me a gurney!’ he shouted to the room in general.

Connor turned to Will who just glared at him. ‘I’m fine, Connor, seriously. Jay,’ he looked at his still kneeling brother, ‘Give me a hand, will you?’

Jay stared at his brother, knowing by the look in his eye that Will would drag himself off the floor if he didn’t have help. Jay sighed, nodded and took Will’s right hand in a firm grip, grabbing him around the waist as he got his legs beneath him. Connor had disappeared into a treatment room but reappeared almost immediately, a few large gauze pads in his gloved hands. He placed them tightly against Will’s arm, ignoring the soft inhale of pain from his colleague, pushing down to staunch some of the bleeding.

‘Come on,’ Connor nodded in the direction of the room he’d come from, both hands still tight around Will’s arm, ‘There’s no one in here.’

‘I’m fine, Connor, it’s just a scratch.’ Will was trying to act nonchalant, but Jay could see right through it. His brother’s voice was quieter than normal and he hadn’t commented on Jay’s arm, which was still wrapped around his waist. He was clearly shaken and pretending not to be. Jay stayed right by his side as Connor led them into the room, helping his brother onto the edge of the bed and standing so close he was almost hitting off Will’s knee.

Connor was gingerly moving the gauze, only to frown as more blood poured out. ‘It’s bleeding a hell of a lot for a scratch, Will,’ he commented, pushing down fresh gauze and glancing out into the corridor, looking for something. ‘What did he cut you with? Was it clean?’

Will, looking a little better now that he was sitting down, grimaced. ‘It was a scalpel. And it was sterile.’ He tried to twist his arm to look but Connor held fast on his wrist, giving him a warning glance. ‘Is it going to need stitches?’

Connor nodded, ‘Yeah, a couple definitely.’ He glanced back out into the ED and seemed to spot what he wanted this time. ‘Maggie!’ he called, startling the nurse a little, but making her appear in the doorway.

As soon as she took in the scene Maggie unceremoniously pushed Jay out of the way to get to Will. ‘Will, what happened? Is that your blood?!’ She ran a hand through his hair and glared at Connor as though he was the one who’d hurt Will. ‘What happened?’

Jay could only laugh. It was a well-known fact, and a running joke, that Maggie had all but adopted Will into her family. Jay had no idea why, but it was very amusing to watch. Connor, apparently used to the behaviour, just rolled his eyes.

‘He lost a fight with an angry patient - he’ll be fine. But I need a free nurse and a suture kit, please.’

‘He's not a patient,’ Will pointed out, as Maggie gave his arm a squeeze and went outside again.

‘He’s a dead man, is what he is.’ Jay butted in, startling both doctors a little. Jay knew what they were like - all healing, no violence - but he wasn’t about that. That idiot had hurt his brother and could have potentially hurt a lot of other people, innocent people. As soon as he knew for sure Will would be okay he was going to make sure justice was served, one way or another.

‘Jay, no.’ Will knew him well enough to recognise the look in Jay’s eyes. ‘He’s a family member. His wife and daughter were in a car accident. His wife was DOA, I declared his daughter fifteen minutes ago.’ Will looked out the glass doors, not really focusing on anything. ‘She was only six years old. He just lost it.’

‘That’s not an excuse,’ Jay argued, even as Connor patted Will on the shoulder, one hand still wrapped around the wound.

Will refocused and stared Jay down. ‘Not an excuse, but a reason. He’ll be dealt with by regular CPD. You stay out of it.’

Jay made no promises and was saved from having to answer by the nurse arriving. As soon as Jay saw the suture kit open though, with string and needles and other creepy things, he hid a shudder and pulled out his phone. Will was giving him a very knowing look when he glanced up. ‘I need to make a phone call,’ he said anyway, ignoring the way Will grinned a little at him.

‘That’s a good idea, you do that,’ was all his brother said, still grinning as Jay left the room. Any other day Jay might push back but it wasn’t really fair to hit Will when he was down. And Jay didn’t want to stick around and watch Connor literally sew Will’s arm shut, so he just left.

Things had calmed down considerably outside - a damning testament to how common violence was in the ED - so Jay made his way to the doctors’ lounge to make the call. Voight picked up on the second ring.

‘Halstead?’ Never a man of many words.

‘Hey, boss. I’m still at the hospital, but I’m going to need an hour or two. I’ll be back in the office as soon as possible.’

‘Things going that well with Nancy Foster?’ Voight asked, referring to the domestic violence victim Jay had been interviewing.

  
  


Jay had all but forgotten about her. ‘No, Sarge, she’s a dead end. I couldn’t even get her to talk to me, there’s no way she’d get on a stand and testify.’

There was a pause and Voight’s voice was vaguely amused when it came down the line. ‘So are you going to tell me why you want to hang out at the hospital if our witness is a no-go?’

Jay, who’d just spotted two uniforms coming in the main entrance and gotten distracted, snapped back to the conversation. ‘Sorry Sarge. There was an incident with a patient’s family member, Will got hurt. He’s getting stitched up right now and then I want to drive him home. Once I have him settled I’ll come back to the office.’

‘He’ll be okay?’

Jay smiled a little. Voight, for all his knee cap breaking ways, was big on family. Will had helped them out on a couple of cases over the years, and Voight had made it clear he was one of them. Jay didn’t think his boss really knew how much that meant to Jay; that Will had that protection. That the team would be there if something ever happened to Jay and Will was left…

‘He’ll be fine, Sarge, thanks. The guy got him on the arm with a scalpel but Rhodes says a couple of stitches will do it.’

‘The guy?’

‘Just lost his wife and daughter in a car accident. Will’s insisting I don’t go near him.’

Voight chuckled down the line. ‘Doctors, eh? No sense of corporal punishment. Listen to your brother, Halstead, I’m not bailing you out over a bereaved manic episode. Take Will home and then come back here, we need to keep on this case.’

‘Thanks Sarge, I will.’

Voight hung up immediately, as was his way, and Jay ran a hand through his hair, sighing. It had been a very sudden and unexpected rush of adrenaline - seeing Will hurt - and now he was coming down from it. It was so familiar a feeling for Jay that it rarely bothered him these days, but Will was a weak spot. He sighed again, thinking - if he was honest - about a stiff drink to make this go away. But he was hours from that, if indeed he got off duty at all tonight, so he put the thought aside and started back towards the treatment room. He heard Will before he even got to the door.

‘Connor, come off it, I do not need a sling - it’s a scratch!’

‘I just put twelve stitches in that ‘scratch’ Will-‘ Connor’s voice was laced with annoyance- ‘So yes, you get a sling. Don’t be such a child.’

‘I’m not a child, which is exactly why I’m capable of minding a simple wound without having my whole arm immobilised.’

‘Christ you’re so damn stubborn! It’s a sling not a torture device, and you aren’t leaving this hospital without it. So do you want me to admit you?’

Jay rounded the corner in time to find the two facing off. Connor had his hands on his hips, a dark blue sling hanging from one. Will was standing too, his left hand resting on his right shoulder and a neat white bandage wrapped around his forearm. They were glaring at each other and Will had opened his mouth, no doubt to argue more, but Jay jumped in.

‘Give me the sling, Connor, I’ll get it on him.’ Will turned his glare on Jay, but Jay ignored him. ‘Are there papers he needs to sign or something?’

Connor now had a rather smug grin in place, as he moved around Will and handed over the blue fabric. ‘I actually never admitted him, so no, he doesn’t need discharge papers. You’re driving?’

Jay nodded, watching Will glance up in surprise. ‘Yeah, I’ll drop him home before I head back to the district.’

‘Good.’ Connor turned back to his colleague. ‘You’re off duty for the next two days, Will - I’m telling Maggie so don’t even think about sneaking back here.’

Will threw up his right hand in frustration. ‘Seriously - two days? For a few stitches? Goodwin’s going to be pissed at you - I was due to pull a double.’

‘It’s nice to know you have so much faith in my concern for my employees, Dr. Halstead.’ Miss Goodwin appeared in the doorway just in time to catch Will’s guilty face, Connor’s smug one and Jay’s wide grin. She smiled at all of them but addressed Will. ‘If Dr. Rhodes says two days then I don’t want to see you in here again before. Is that clear?’

‘Yes Miss Goodwin.’ Will sounded like a school boy and Jay stifled a laugh.

‘Good.’ Goodwin nodded decisively and then pinned Will with a look. ‘Are you alright, other than the stitches?’

Will smiled, squirming a little under the scrutiny. ‘I’m fine. Really. Thank you.’

‘Well alright then. We’ll speak in my office when you’re back on duty. Doctors, detective.’ Then she left.

Connor chuckled and started making for the door too. ‘Alright, I’m done here too. Two days, Will.’ He pointed a finger at Will and then moved it to Jay. ‘And get that sling on him - he should wear it until at least tomorrow.’

Will just flapped his arm in a dismissive gesture but Jay started forward, catching Connor at the door and holding out his hand to shake. ‘Hey, thank you, Connor, seriously.’

The doctor grinned widely at him and clapped him on the shoulder as they shook. ‘No need for thanks, but I appreciate it all the same.’

Once he was gone Jay rounded on Will. ‘You’re a real ass to him, you know that?’

‘He loves it,’ Will scoffed, already making towards the door, only stopped by Jay holding up the sling. ‘I’m not wearing that, Jay.’

‘Put it on,’ Jay threatened, ‘Or I’ll tell Connor you hit your head when you went down, and you can spend the next two hours getting a work up for that.’

Will’s eyes narrowed. ‘You wouldn’t.’

‘I think we both know I absolutely would. Put on the sling.’

In the end Jay had to offer quite a lot of help to get it on, as it wasn’t really something you could do one handed, but between them they got it in place. Then there was an argument about Will driving his own car home, which Jay flat out refused to allow. Only after that did they actually get out of the hospital and on the road to Will’s apartment. Jay left him there with a promise to come over once he was off (whenever that would be) and have a beer over a game. Will was already pulling off the sling as Jay closed the door - an action Jay chose to pretend he hadn’t seen.

  
  



	6. Missing, Presumed Injured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So here's a long one for the weekend. In fact it's really long, like 10k words. It got away from me a little bit :-)
> 
> In which some people come after Jay and Will gets caught in the cross fire, quite literally.

Jay’s eyes snapped open, adjusting quickly to the half-light coming from the street outside. Something had woken him. A glance at the clock told him it was 2.15am. Probably a nightmare then. He got them less these days than he used to, but it still wasn’t that unusual for him to be staring at his ceiling in the middle of the night. What was unusual was for him to have no memory of it. No smell of smoke, no distant screams, no cold sweat. Just silence.

The softest click broke that silence and Jay was on his feet before he even registered what he was doing. That’s what had woken him. A sound - a sound coming from the living space of his apartment. Will had finished work at 7 and gone to bed at the same time as Jay, so it wasn’t him sneaking in. The click was followed by the soft scraping noise his door made against the mat under it. Jay’s gun went from his side table to his hand in under a second.

Sure, it might just be a two-bit burglar who had chosen the worst possible location for a break in. But Jay had pissed off enough big fish, and seen the consequences enough times, to assume it wasn't just a coincidence. So he approached his bedroom door slowly, silently, gun half raised and ready. Outside he could just make out a boot step on a hard floor. They were making their way across the living space. The two bedroom doors - his and Will’s - were identical, and Jay had to steady his hands as a stray stab of panic flowed through him. Will wouldn't have woken at the noise, it was much too quiet. But if Jay didn’t put a stop to whoever was out there, they could choose the wrong door.

Will had left the kitchen light on when he went to bed, so there was no chance of easing open his door and taking the intruder by surprise. Quick and efficient was the only way to do it. Jay lined himself up with the door frame, put his left hand on the handle and took one last, steadying breath. It took under a second for him to open the door, move through the gap and raise his gun. He didn’t yell ‘CPD’ or even ‘Drop your weapons’. Before he opened the door he decided not to, because he was hopeful of keeping Will in his room, safe, until it was over. After he opened the door it became redundant anyway, because three guns were pointing back at him - too many to take out or even control. His own weapon flicked between them before settling on the centre man, probably the leader. All three were white, middling height, dressed in dark, nondescript clothes. They were holding their guns, complete with silencers, with an air of confidence and their faces were uncovered - not a good sign. None of them were familiar to Jay, but they had the distinct air of muscle for hire, so whoever had hired them - because this definitely wasn’t a random break in - was probably the one he’d have known.

‘Halstead.’ The one in the middle spoke first. ‘You’re coming with us - are you going to make me shoot you or are you going to be sensible about it?’ His accent was from far further South than Chicago and his tone was almost bored, like he did this on the regular. The gun he had pointed at Jay’s chest didn’t even twitch.

Jay was very much stuck. He’d have had a chance against two, but there was no way he would get to three of them before he was shot to pieces himself. Any fighting, even any more talking, would definitely bring Will out of his room. And Jay knew what collateral damage looked like to guys like this. But if he didn’t fight, if he gave up his gun and agreed to go God-knew-where with them, no one would realise he was missing until Will got up for work, hours from now. Even then, Will might not notice - might just think Jay had gotten an early start. He was due into the precinct for 9am. Erin would call him after 15 minutes. Voight after 30. Then they’d call Will. Only then would they realise he was missing. He didn’t know who these guys worked for, but it was pretty unlikely whoever it was wanted to keep him alive for the next eight hours. He’d be dead before the team could find him.

  
  


It only took a second to make the decision.

He raised his gun slowly, very slowly, above his head, and as soon as is it was clear the guy on the left moved forward. His own weapon was holstered and he grabbed both Jay’s arms, handing his gun off. The other two kept their guns pointed at Jay’s chest, steady and unrushed. Professional. Jay filed it away for future reference.

  
  


'Sensible.' The leader was speaking again. 'We've got a car downstairs. Walk down nice and quietly – my gun will be on you the whole time – and we can keep this civil.'

  
  


Jay didn't even speak, just nodded tersely as his hands were bound behind him with a zip-tie. They were moving towards the door, almost clear, when a door behind them opened.

  
  


‘Jay?’ Will’s voice was horse and he was clearly only half awake, rubbing his eyes and blinking in the light.

All four men turned to him, Jay almost pulling himself free through the sheer panic in his movement. ‘Will, run! Run-‘ That was as far as he got. The man struggling to hold him raised his gun and brought the handle down hard on the back of Jay’s neck, sending him crashing to his knees. The leader raised his weapon too and, without a moment’s hesitation, fired straight at Will. Jay wanted to scream, wanted to break free, wanted to do something. But his vision was already going black, arms and legs not working. All he could do was watch as Will fell backwards, back into his own bedroom. It was the last thing Jay saw as another hit took him down completely.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Pain. Unimaginable pain, like Will had never felt before. It was dark - no his eyes were closed, but he didn’t want to open them. He wanted the pain to stop and he groaned loudly, hoping someone would come and give him something for it. But nothing happened. Why wasn’t anyone coming? He could tell he was lying down. And he was in pain. Wasn’t he at the hospital? The pain was making everything so much harder but through sheer force of will he pried his eyes open. He was met with the half dark ceiling of his own bedroom. He knew it was his room because there was a water stain above the door that Jay said had been there when he moved in so he hadn’t done anything about it.

Jay.

Men. Guns. Confusion. Pain.

Jay.

_Jay_.

‘Jay!’ The pain, unbelievably, got worse as Will forced himself to shout. But now he had adrenaline on his side and so he pushed through it, calling out again but again getting no answer. Jay wasn’t here. He was gone. And the only way in hell he would have left Will lying injured on the floor was if he’d been dragged out. Will needed help, he needed someone to find Jay. He needed Intelligence.

Rolling onto his side was excruciating, and he had to stop by the time he made it over, panting and whining with pain. It only then occurred to him to look at the damage. The light blue shirt he’d worn to bed was purple, the whole front stained and stuck to Will’s torso. He could see the hole, just below his sternum. Blood was oozing out of it as he moved. Will really wanted to throw up but he knew that was bad idea. He needed help, he needed to find Jay.

Slowly, and so painfully, he dragged himself along the floor. Every movement made more blood ooze and he was starting to feel lightheaded. But he kept going. Reaching up onto his bedside locker was almost too much, and it took three tries to finally pull his phone down. He had to lie still for a moment after, half under the bed now, the phone next to his arm. He’d never felt so dizzy in his life. It took a long time to get his phone unlocked, longer still to scroll to Voight’s name. By the time he’d gotten the call button pushed it was all he could do to drop the phone by his ear and hope Voight would be able to hear him.

His brother’s boss picked up on the third ring, even though it was the middle of the night.

‘Will? Is everything alright?’

‘Jay.’ Will wasn’t even completely sure that came out clearly. Maybe he just made a noise. So he tried again. ‘Jay.’

‘Will?’ Voight sounded completely awake. And worried. ‘Will, what’s happened? What’s wrong?’

‘They took Jay.’ That was the important bit here. ‘Jay. Help.’

‘Will!’ Will had never heard Voight panic but he sounded stressed now. ‘Who took Jay? Where are you?’ Will wasn’t sure he could string all of the information together into sentences. The blood loss was really catching up with him and now, worryingly, he was starting to struggle to breathe. He tried to say something but all that came out was a wheeze. Or maybe it was more a groan. Voight’s voice became much softer, calmer. ‘Hey, Will, stay with me. Just answer me yes or no, okay? Are you at your apartment?’

‘Yes.’ It was more an expel of air than a word. But it was clear enough.

‘Is Jay with you?’

‘No.’

‘Are you alone?’

‘Yes.’

‘Are you hurt?’

‘Yes.’

‘How are you hurt, Will, tell me?’

‘Shot.’ He struggled with that but kept going. ‘Abdomen shot.’

‘Okay, okay.’ Vaguely, he could hear Voight speaking to someone else. He didn’t have the energy to follow what was being said. He really wanted to sleep but Voight’s voice was back again. ‘Will, I’m on my way to you. Uniforms will be with you in a minute. There’s an ambulance coming. I need you to hold on for me, okay? Can you do that?’

Will wasn’t really sure he could. And it didn’t matter now either. Voight would find Jay. That was what mattered.

‘Will? Answer me.’ It was a clear command. ‘Stay with me.’

‘Mmmm.’ He closed his eyes again.

When he opened them there were two uniformed officers kneeling above him. Roman and Burgess to be exact. Roman had both his hands over Will’s stomach, pushing down. That should probably hurt. Will should probably be more worried that it didn’t. Burgess had Will’s phone to her ear and was talking. She was the first to notice he was awake.

‘Will!’ Her free hand cupped around his face, a thumb stroking his cheek. ‘Hang in there Will, the ambulance is almost here.’ Then she spoke into the phone. ‘Yeah, he just opened his eyes. Roman’s trying to stop the bleeding.’ A pause. ‘Yes Sir.’ Then she threw down the phone, hand still on Will’s face but attention on Roman. ‘Voight’s a minute out. Ambulance is three minutes out.’

Roman cursed colourfully and pressed down harder. Will could see him do it, but he didn’t feel it. ‘Will?’ Roman was speaking to him now, both hands still occupied. ‘Will, where’s your first aid kit? Is it in the bathroom?’

‘Kitchen.’ He was actually amazed his voice worked but the effort made him close his eyes again.

‘Will, Will - stay awake! Kim, grab the kit.’

Roman had advanced lifesaving training, a random part of Will’s brain kicked up. Jay had mentioned it once.

‘Jay?’

Roman glanced at him, a sad look in his eye. ‘He’s not here, Will, but we’ll find him, you know we will. Just let me look after you first. You’ve lost a lot of blood, but you’re going to be okay.’

It was an empty promise and they both knew it. It meant nothing, lying bleeding on a floor without proper medical support. Will closed his eyes again. He was so tired.

  
  


The next time he opened them Voight was standing at his feet and two paramedics he didn’t know were connecting leads to him. Roman was standing next to Voight, his arms stained red. Will’s blood. They’d cut away his shirt and he was cold. It didn’t hurt. It should hurt.

Voight knelt down when he saw Will looking at him, his hand resting on Will’s leg, squeezing. ‘Hang in there, Will.’ Someone had put an oxygen mask over his face. It helped with the breathing but not with the tiredness. One of the paramedics was talking to him, asking him questions, rubbing his sternum. Will closed his eyes.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The ED was quiet but that wasn’t that unusual for 3am on a Tuesday. It wasn’t prime drunken stupidity time and so, barring a gang war, it was usually just a few home accidents, some high fevers and the occasional car crash. Nurses and med students filtered in and out of the treatment rooms, dealing with cuts and bruises and runny noses. Drs. Rhodes and Choi, both on night duty that day, were leaning against the nurses station discussing a strange case Choi had caught the day before. They both looked up as Haley, the charge nurse for the night, came hurrying over.

‘GSW to the abdomen coming in. He’s got a police escort so he’s VIP. You two got this?’

They both nodded, already moving towards the bay doors. A police escort could mean an important politician or a key witness. But most often it was one of CPD’s own coming through those doors. For the staff of Chicago Med that meant quite likely a friend would be lying on the stretcher in front of them. Choi and Rhodes shared a glance as the ambulance sirens drew nearer, each checking the other was ready. The ambulance arrived behind a squad car, another following after, blocking most of the outside area with blue lights and deafening noise. Rhodes noticed Roman and Burgess getting out of the following car, both showing blood transfer but not looking injured. Choi saw the EMT jump out of the driver’s seat, running around to pull open the back doors. More uniforms got out of more cars and by the time the stretcher hit the ground there were six officers around it.

‘Definitely one of theirs then,’ Choi commented, even as he stepped forward to activate the automatic doors.

’35 year old male, GSW to the upper abdomen, high volume blood loss-‘ The EMTs kept talking but Rhodes and Choi had stopped listening. Because lying on the stretcher in front of them was not a drinking buddy from the CPD, not a uniform who’d risked their life to save someone. It was Will. Will, who’s usually pale skin was white now, contrasting horribly with the blood all over his torso. Will, who didn’t respond at all when Rhodes rubbed his sternum, tapping his cheek and calling his name. Will, who’s heartrate was so low when they got him on the monitors that Choi almost ordered a crash cart. The fight to stabilise him was quick and brutal, but it worked. Within fifteen minutes Rhodes was wheeling the bed out the door, running straight for a theatre that had been prepped in record time.

It was only then that Choi realised what was odd about all the police officers waiting outside the door. Or really, that it was odd there weren’t more. 

‘Has someone called Jay Halstead?’ he called out, to no one and everyone.

Burgess was the one who answered, her face pinched with worry and her uniform shirt showing the part she’d played in saving Will’s life. ‘We can’t. He’s missing.’

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

While Will was being prepped for surgery, handled gently and drugged to ensure no pain, Jay was experiencing slightly different treatment. He awoke to a full bucket of icy cold water hitting him straight in the face. It wasn’t for the first time in his life, he was sorry to admit. He was bound to an uncomfortable metal chair, hands tied behind his back and ankles strapped to each leg. Someone had removed his shirt and the cold water chilled his exposed skin. Everything was fuzzy - his vision, his memory, his whole understanding on the situation. Fuzzy.

A hard slap stung his cheek, snapping his head to the side and sending pain shooting up and down his spine. His head was pounding, he’d just noticed. He could hear Will’s voice lecturing him on the dangers of head injuries. He did it every time Jay came home with a bump or a bruise - getting well into Jay’s personal space to check for skull fractures. In the beginning Jay had tried to fight him off, but now he just let it happen. It was faster and stopped Will bitching about it for hours. There was something about Will…

‘Come on sleeping beauty.’ Another slap, this time on the other cheek. ‘It’s no fun if you’re out for it all.’

There were white and black spots all across his vision when Jay finally pried his eyes open, but he could see. His chin was resting on his chest so he had a view of his knees and not much else. Until someone grabbed his hair and pulled his head back. A tall, white man was standing over him, a smile on his face that spoke of violence. His voice had a southern drawl and all at once Jay’s memory flooded back. Will, coming out of the room, then falling back in as a bullet ripped through him. Jay thought he heard something in his shoulder snap as he jerked forward with all his might, almost toppling the chair and startling the man in front of him.

‘You shot him, you bastard!’ Jay’s head pounded and now his arm was throbbing, but he pushed it all back, still struggling desperately. ‘You’re a dead man! Dead!’

The guy, after the initial shock, started to laugh. ‘Wow, we really do have a live one here, huh?’ He ducked down, more eye level with his captive but far enough away to avoid Jay’s struggles. ‘I shot him? I guess you’re talking about that guy in your apartment? What is he - roommate? Boyfriend?’

‘Was he a tall redhead?’ The new voice came from behind Jay so he couldn’t see the owner. But it was a woman, accent upper class. The click of heels sounded on the floor as the man nodded. ‘That was his brother, the doctor. Did you kill him?’

The man shrugged, unconcerned. ‘Probably. Point blank to the chest, and it’s not like we called an ambulance on the way out.’ Jay’s heart felt like it was stopping and starting.

‘I’m sorry Detective Halstead.’ The woman rounded the chair into his line of sight. ‘I didn’t intend for that to happen. You’re the only one I wanted. But collateral damage and all that.’

Will was dead.

She was five foot ten-ish, with heels to add to it. Dark hair, glossy and styled carefully around a pretty face. Her make-up and clothes were immaculate, expensive, and she seemed very out of place in the windowless, dimly lit room.

Will was dead.

‘Although in truth,’ she continued, ‘Family is why we’re here today. So maybe it’s appropriate after all.’

Will was dead.

‘You don’t remember me, do you?’

Will was dead and the man responsible was standing in front of him. Close enough to wrap his hands around the guy’s neck, if only he could get free. Nothing else really mattered.

The punch split his lip and knocked his head back. ‘Answer the lady.’

There was blood in his mouth now. And his arm was throbbing in line with his racing heart. _Head injury, face laceration, possible separated shoulder_ \- Will’s voice, his doctor voice, ran through Jay’s head. Will was dead. Another punch, this time to his side, made him bend forward, gasping as all the air was pushed out of him. _Fractured rib, need that x-ray in here!_

‘It’s alright.’ She was speaking again. ‘We never really met. You would have seen me in the courtroom, when they put my father away for life.’ The first trace of anger appeared in her voice. ‘But there were a lot of people there that day.’

Will was dead.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Will woke up with the distinct feeling that it wasn’t for the first time. The beeping machines, the pull of wires and drips, and the unique stillness that could only be the ICU, confirmed that suspicion. Most patients in the ICU woke up and fell asleep - sometimes for hours - before they actually became lucid. Will wasn’t completely sure he was all the way to lucid, but he felt awake for real. Awake enough to feel the bandages wrapped tight around his middle, and the fog of painkillers making everything soft.

He only had time to take in his own state and the private room he was in before a nurse appeared in the doorway. Will had seen her face around the ICU before but he didn’t know her name. She was smiling gently as she approached, eyes flicking to the monitors and then back to him.

‘Hello, Dr. Halstead. It’s good to see you awake. Can you tell me where you are?’

‘Chicago Med, ICU.’ Will’s voice cracked as he said it and a straw appeared at his lips. She didn’t have to tell him to only sip it, he knew he’s be wearing it if he tried to take too much.

‘That’s right, well done.’ Her voice had that soft, reassuring tone that all nurses seemed to perfect. ‘I’m Jane, I don’t know if we were ever introduced. Can you tell me if you’re in any pain? Does anything feel bad?’

Will shook his head slightly, feeling the pull of the nasal cannula. ‘No pain. What happened?’ He was sure he knew but everything was slippery at the moment, and he couldn’t quite get a hold of the answer.

Jane just smiled again, a little sadly this time, as she patted him on the arm. ‘Let me get Dr. Jones and he can run through everything with you. I also have an order from several of the ED staff to let them know as soon as you were awake.’

His eyes followed her out of the room and it was only then he realised there were two people standing outside the door. Two blue uniforms, standing guard.

_Will, run - Run!_

Alarms starting wailing as Will’s heartrate skyrocketed. But he barely noticed. He was busy trying, stupidly he knew but he didn’t care, to extricate himself from the wires tying him down. He only got as far as the oxygen line and a burning pain in his abdomen and side before Jones and three nurses ran in. They didn’t really have to hold him down because he didn’t have any strength left and had already sort of fallen back against the bed. Still Jones had a firm grip on his shoulder.

‘Will, stop moving - you’re going to pull out your chest tube.’ He was speaking firmly and clearly but Will couldn’t slow his breathing. ‘Will, you have to calm down or I’m going to have to sedate you. Stop fighting us.’

‘Jay.’ He managed to gasp it out, finding the strength to grab Jones' arm and not much else. ‘Where’s Jay?! Is he dead?’

Jones only had time to give him a sympathetic look - only increasing his heartrate again - before one of the uniforms inserted herself into the situation. Will didn’t know her but she seemed to know him.

‘He’s still missing, Dr. Halstead,’ she said, positioning herself at the end of the bed and ignoring the annoyed look she got from the medical staff. ‘Intelligence are following leads now. There’s no reason to assume he’s dead at this point.’ She was confident in her delivery, sure she wasn’t lying to him and giving him false hope. It went a long way to Will finally getting some kind of hold over himself; flopping, exhausted, back onto the pillows. Missing. Jay was missing. No one knew where he was or what was being done to him.

‘Will,’ Jones softened his tone considerably, now that his patient had quietened, ‘I know you’re worried about your brother, but you were badly hurt. I need to run through your injuries with you, and then we need to do a full work up.’

Will just shook his head side to side, trying desperately not to go to pieces right there in front of his colleagues. Jay could be anywhere.

‘Will-’ Jones tried again but Natalie’s voice interrupted him.

‘Give us a second, Dr. Jones.’ She held up her hand when he tried to argue. ‘I know you need to see to him, and you can, but just give us the room for a second.’ Natalie, who Will had known since college. Who was now ordering an Attending out of the room without a thought. Jay teased him constantly about what he called Will’s ‘high school crush’ on a pregnant army widow. But Will couldn’t help it - he’d been in love with her since he’d first met her. ‘It’s okay.’ Her voice was soft as she settled herself on the edge of the bed next to him, one hand encasing his while the other reached up to wipe away tears Will didn’t realise were falling down his cheeks.

‘I’m sorry.’ It was a reflex, to apologise for showing weakness. To sniff loudly, the motion hurting his stomach muscles, and try to stop the tears. But Natalie just squeezed his hand and shook her head.

‘Don’t be sorry, Will. You’re worried about Jay. And also hurt and on a lot of medication.’

Will sniffed again, looking out the door where the female officer was on her phone. ‘They could be doing anything to him, Nat. He could be anywhere.’

‘Hey.’ Both hands went to his cheeks this time. ‘The very first thing you ever told me about Jay was how strong he was. Do you remember that?’ Will shook his head, because he knew he’d told her about Jay when they were in med school - Jay had already enlisted at that point - but he didn’t remember specifics. ‘You never really talked about your family - you’d just told me you had a younger brother - but then one day you came in beaming and when I asked you what was going on you told me Jay had qualified for Ranger school. You were proud as punch.’ She smiled at him and he smiled back. He did remember that. ‘You spent most of that day telling me how Jay had been worried he wouldn’t get in but you’d known for sure he would. You said he was a born soldier, the strongest person you knew. A real fighter.’ Will knew what she was trying to do, and he didn’t really believe her, but he appreciated it all the same. ‘He’ll get through this, Will, you have to believe that. They’ll get him back and he’ll be okay.’

Will nodded, because really what else could he do. He smiled and thanked her, let her kiss his cheek before she opened the doors to Jones and a battery of tests. The work up took almost an hour and by the end of it Will barely had the energy to lift his head. Despite the worry coursing through him all he wanted to do was sleep. Jones had told him he’d been brought in about 3am, Connor had rushed him into surgery immediately, Jones joining him about 30mins into a three hour operation. Then Will had slept off the anaesthetic, fading in and out as was normal, for the next seven hours or so. It was after lunch now and Jay had been missing for over ten hours.

‘Try to get some rest, Will,’ Jones instructed, as he finished tapping notes onto his padd. ‘If you can’t sleep I’ll leave a standing order for medication as needed.’ Will was pretty sure he was half asleep before the surgeon made it out of the room...

Only to be woken again by a knocking on the glass panelling. Dawson had all the look of someone pulled from their bed at 3am and told their colleague and close friend had been kidnapped. Voight just looked dangerous, more dangerous than Will had ever seen him. Will was glad of it and started struggling to raise himself into a seated position, before the Sargent’s hand on his shoulder held him down.

‘Don’t,’ he simply said, turning the restraining hand into a reassuring squeeze. ‘It’s good to see you awake, Will.’

‘Where are you with finding Jay?’ Will asked immediately, ignoring niceties and flicking his attention between Voight and Dawson. ‘Have you got any leads?’

It was Dawson who answered, glancing at his boss before he spoke. ‘We’re pretty sure we know who took him. We’re just trying to find out where he’s being kept. We’re getting there.’

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jay didn’t know where he was. He was tied to a chair, bare feet against a concrete floor. He was cold, because he was in light cotton trousers, and nothing else. Why? Whoever grabbed him must have taken his gear. His head hurt, his shoulder felt like it was on fire, and a list of other bits of him were battered and bruised. His team would come for him. They always came through for each other. That’s what brothers did. Brothers. Not for the first time Jay wished Will was here. Well, not _here_ , because here was hell. But he wished Will could take care of him, make the pain go away. He’d wished it many a time he’d been hurt before and left to the not-so-tender mercies of a medic or a base doctor. But Will couldn’t be here. Will didn’t belong in a war. He’d met Jay for dinner, a week before his first deployment. They weren’t as close as they could have been - should have been - but there was no way Jay was flying off to battle without at least saying goodbye. He hadn’t thought Will would really understand but his brother had stared at him the whole meal, like he was taking him in. And then before they’d parted he’d pulled Jay into a really long hug, a hand on the back of his head and the words ‘I’m so proud of you, I love you’ whispered in Jay’s ear.

Will wasn’t here. He couldn’t be here. His other brothers would come for him. Afghanistan was hell on earth, but Rangers left no man behind. They’d come.

Something hit him on the side of the head. He could only open one eye anyway, but he closed it as the world spun around him and a ringing filled his ears. The next touch was deceptively gentle, a tap of cold metal against his chest. Then his whole body pulsed, electricity flowing through him. He didn’t know what these people wanted. He couldn’t remember. But he’d been trained to withstand torture. They weren’t getting anything from him. They’d have to kill him.

His knee exploded in pain and ripped a groan from split lips. Then more electricity. He blacked out - how often or for how long he didn’t know. He’d wake up and he was in pain. He’d black out and he wasn’t. He didn’t even know who was in the room any more. Who had taken him? His unit had been working with a local rebel group, Jay hadn’t trusted them from the start. He knew the group would betray them eventually.

His CO was going to be pissed he’d lost all his gear. Brennan was the kind of officer who complained about the sand in the trunk of his jeep. In the middle of the desert. The guys had been talking about filling the whole damn jeep with sand, just for the laugh, but they hadn’t got around to it yet. Jay couldn’t even remember where he’d lost his gear. In fact he couldn’t remember putting it on this morning. Head injuries sucked.

‘Jay!’

He thought he heard someone shouting. But maybe it was just in his head. There were loud pops and bangs all around him. Those weren’t his unit’s weapons though, he knew the sound of them like he knew his own voice. Those were hand guns.

‘Jay!’

Who had handguns? Everyone used assault rifles. They carried handguns, for close combat, but in two and half tours Jay had never found a use for his once.

‘Jay! God Jay, please!’

He wished he had his rifle.

‘Ruzek, Atwater, clear the rest of the building. Erin, get him out of that chair. 5021 Charlie, officer down, I repeat, officer down. Role me a bus to our location now!’

Someone was pulling on the zipties and suddenly his legs were free. That was nice. But when they started cutting the ones on his wrists his shoulder shifted and pain shot through it. He thought he might have shouted, or made some noise. All movement around him stopped.

‘Something’s wrong - his arms?’

‘We shouldn’t move him, wait for the ambo.’

‘I’m not leaving him like this, just help me!’

The zipties came off, but slower. The pain was there, all over, but it wasn’t as sharp. Or maybe Jay just wasn’t as sharp . Lots of hands were on him, and they were being gentle, but they weren’t his unit. He knew because those hands were too small, too soft, no one was wearing gloves. That wasn’t his unit. That wasn’t-

‘Jay! Jay, please, stop fighting us. You’re going to hurt yourself!’

The voice was right, his whole body was a mass of pain, he couldn’t even see, everything was black. He kept fighting anyway.

‘Jay! Jay! Please! It’s me, it’s Erin. You’re safe. Stop! Stop!’

He did, although he wasn’t sure if it was her words finally making it through, or his body giving up on him. Erin. Erin was his partner, she had his back. He trusted Erin, he liked Erin. He’d really have liked to date her but Voight had made it clear - Erin or his job. Erin didn’t belong there. She didn’t belong in a warzone. Why was she there?

‘Shhh, Jay, it’s okay. I’ve got you, I’ve got you. There’s an ambulance coming, just stay with me.’ Her voice was soft, so were her hands on his face. She sounded like she was crying.

‘No.’ He said it, but immediately regretted it, because talking made him cough. But she shouldn’t be there. He was imagining her, dreaming her up in a place where there were no women like Erin.

‘Shhh.’ Her fingers were stroking through his hair. His mum used to do that, when he was sick. It always made him fall asleep. ‘Everything’s going to be fine, Jay. We’ve got you.’

‘Medic!’ Erin wasn’t really there, he knew that. But the pain was real. He needed help. He needed to not die in this God-forsaken country. ‘Medic!’ Where the hell was Stitch? Medics were always last in, but this was ridiculous. ‘Med-‘ He didn’t get any further because his lungs seized up. He was going to die here. Stitch was good but he wasn’t that good. He wasn’t as good as Will would be… ‘Will.’ He wasn’t sure where the energy for that came from.

‘Jay,’ Erin’s imaginary voice again, ‘Jay, Will is-‘ He was out before he heard the rest.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Will slept for another two hours after Dawson and Voight left. And even after that, when he woke up with the worry of Jay still missing, he drifted in and out. He knew it was the medication - one of the perks of being a doctor was that you got the best painkillers that could be prescribed. On a normal day Will would probably have argued for less, wanted to be clearer and more aware of his surroundings - even though he was only a few hours post-op. But right then he knew that awareness just meant even more stress, and he already felt like he could barely breathe for the weight of it on his chest. There was nothing useful he could do in his current state, so it was better to be drugged enough that he was only terrified, rather than certifiable. Natalie stopped in and out on her breaks and he would have given out to her for running around in her state - she was dangerously close to the 8 months mark now - but honestly the couple of minutes she was there were really important to him.

At some point in the late afternoon Connor came back on shift and appeared at Will’s door, nodding to the two officers still outside. He looked tired, less put together than normal, but he smiled widely when he saw Will’s half closed eyes on him.

‘Hey man,’ he started, coming over to pat Will affectionately on the shoulder, ‘It’s really good to see you awake.’

‘Heard I have you to thank for that?’ Will’s voice was a little slurred - he’d been awake for a good fifteen minutes now and he was feeling it.

Connor shrugged self-consciously. Nothing of his usual swagger. ‘That’s my job. I’m just glad it was fixable.’

‘Mmmm,’ was the inspired response Will came up with and Connor chuckled a little.

‘Alright, I can take a hint. I’ll leave you to rest.’ He turned towards the door but then hesitated, coming back to the side of the bed. ‘Will.’ He waited until Will pried his eyes open again. Connor was frowning. ‘I don’t have any surgeries scheduled this shift, I’ll be in the ED the whole evening. When they find Jay…’ His fingers tapped on the bed rail. ‘I’ll make sure…I’ll be there. I guess what I’m saying is-’ He pinned Will down with a stare- ‘I’ve got him, when they find him.’ Then he nodded decidedly and left, without waiting for a response. 

Perhaps outside of the medical field that would be considered a strange form of comfort. _When your brother appears, no doubt injured, I’ll make sure I’m there to cut him open as needed._ But doctor to doctor Will wasn’t sure there was anything he wanted to hear more (except ‘we’ve found him’). If Jay was going to be injured, and at this point he _was_ going to be injured, and Will couldn’t be there himself, then the promise of a colleague - a friend who was a damn good doctor - that he would be there instead, really did mean something.

  
  


Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  
  


‘We've found him!’ Adam and Kevin practically ran into Will’s room, startling him awake. They were both still in tac’ gear; vests and guns looking very out of place in the sterile white of the ICU. But the smiles across their faces were all that that Will cared about.

‘What?’ He had heard them, but he was half asleep, maybe dreaming, and he needed to know for sure.

Kevin seemed to understand, instinctively, what he was asking. The younger man came right up to the edge of the bed, a hand on Will’s shoulder and his full attention on the doctor. ‘We found him, Will. Jay is downstairs right now, being treated.’ Adam nodded along, still grinning, when Will looked to him.

‘Is he okay?’ They stopped smiling, even exchanged a look, and Will could hear the heart monitor speeding up its beeping.

‘Rhodes and Choi are looking at him now,’ Adam started, also approaching the bed, ‘But he didn’t seem to have anything really seriously wrong with him - he hadn’t been shot or anything.’

Kevin nodded, pitching in. ‘Yeah. He’s pretty beat up, and he hurt his shoulder, we think, but you know Jay, he’s tough - he’ll be alright.’

They were holding something back. It was clear as day, from the shuffling of their feet to the nervous glances they were throwing each other. Will schooled his reaction, tried to pull out what Jay called his doctor’s voice. ‘Tell me what else is wrong.’ It was the tone he used on patients who were clearly jeopardising their health by lying to him. It rarely failed.

Kevin and Adam looked at each other again, a silent power struggle before Adam sighed and tucked his hands into the neck of his vest. ‘He was just confused, man, that’s all. He took a hit to the head, probably more than one, and when we got there he was awake, but kind of out of it.’ He glanced at Kevin again and then carried on. ‘He was calling for a medic, kept fighting us. I think-‘ He frowned, stumbled on the words, ‘We think he thought he was…you know…back overseas.’ Adam said it in a whisper, as though it would conjure up Jay’s demons or something.

Will tried to take it with a more clinical eye. He was terrible at dealing with Jay with any kind of professionalism, he knew, but he tried. A head injury, confusion, PTSD - Jay never said the words but he hadn’t hidden it from Will either. It was normal - Will had had patients with head injuries, and none of Jay’s trauma, come up with all sorts of weird scenarios and ideas. The bigger concern was the possibility of a bleed, or permanent damage to the brain. Jay thinking he was back in Afghanistan after being kidnapped and beaten was, if anything, a rational response.

It still made Will feel sick to his stomach. He wanted to see Jay, wanted to see for himself that his little brother was breathing and talking and alive. But has was in the ICU, with a chest tube still in place and a significant hole in his abdomen. He wasn’t going anywhere and he knew it. ‘Go back downstairs,’ he said, startling the two officers. ‘Let me know as soon as there’s news, please.’

Kevin dithered a little, obviously thinking someone should stay with Will. But in the end he nodded, motioning Adam to the door. ‘Yeah, of course, man - we’ll be back up the second we know more.’

It was actually Voight who came up, about an hour later. He still didn’t look tired, like the man didn’t need sleep, but he was calmer than before, not quite so murderous. He even smiled as he entered, calming Will’s anxiety another little bit.

‘He’s hurt,’ Voight started, hands in pockets, ‘But he’ll be okay. They’ve just finished up tests and they’re moving him to a room so he can rest.’

Will nodded. He wanted a much more detailed report of exact injuries, but he’d have to get Connor or Ethan paged for that. He expected one of them would be up soon anyway. ‘Is he awake?’ he asked instead.

Voight shook his head, but there was something in his eyes. ‘No - he was half out of it when we found him. And he was gone before they got him in the bus.’ There was something more. Will would find out from someone else - he didn’t have the skills or the energy to interrogate Hank Voight. The sergeant knew it too. ‘Docs say he’ll be out for a few hours, Will. Take the time to rest yourself. I’ll move the uniforms from outside your door - the threat’s gone now.’

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jay woke up feeling clearer than he had in almost a day. He remembered hearing something in the apartment, he remembered being taken, he remembered the shot - his heart skipped a beat, then stuttered, then started again. A deep pain in his chest wasn’t touched by the drugs he could feel coursing through his system. Will.

The door scraped a little as it opened, but the nurse who stuck her head in didn’t enter any further into the room. She smiled at him - it was strained. ‘Mr. Halstead, how are you feeling?’

‘Fine,’ he lied, wondering why she was staying so far away. Maybe she worked with Will, maybe she was grieving.

She nodded. ‘That’s good. I’ll page Dr. Choi to come up to you.’ Then she was gone.

Everyone in the hospital would be grieving. Will was well liked there - Jay saw it every time he visited. Will got on well with his colleagues, there was respect and genuine fondness in the movements of all the ED staff. But then people tended to like Will everywhere he went. Jay knew any one of his own team would die for his brother- would have died for his brother- had it been asked of them. It had been like that since they were kids. Will had a fiery temper but he was slow to use it, and he had always been the caretaker - always been the big brother, even though Jay was not slow to rise to a fight himself. Will, although more than capable of holding his own, was more often left to pick Jay off the floor and clean up bleeding knuckles and split lips. He’d always wanted to be a doctor.

Jay would have to tell their father. Or maybe he’d been told already? Jay only had Will listed as his emergency contact, but maybe Will had their dad down on his forms. He wasn’t here now. But then, maybe someone had called him, explained, and he didn’t want to sit by the bedside of the one son who’d gotten the other killed. Jay knew, if the shoe was on the other foot, he wouldn’t want to be anywhere near him. His father hadn’t liked Jay much to begin with. This was the end for them, he knew.

Not that it mattered. Not any more. Will was gone. Jay was never going to see him again. He’d lost brothers before; he’d left too many of them dead in the dirt in Afghanistan. Maybe that was why he wasn’t crying. But those brothers - those men who’d become family through blood and sweat and tears - they had known the risks. Jay had known the risks too, and if his time had come then so be it. It was the same now - his job came with the caveat of death. Will’s job was about life. Jay hadn’t planned for a day Will wouldn’t be there because he’d never, ever, imagined Will would die before him. Call it selfish (Will would) but Jay had just assumed Will would bury him, sooner or later.

He didn’t even look up when the door opened again and it wasn’t until the doctor spoke that he realised it was Connor, not Ethan, who had stepped up to his bedside. It didn’t matter.

‘Hey Jay,’ Connor was saying, ‘How are you feeling? How’s the head?’

‘Fine.’ His voice was monotone and he didn’t look up, so he missed the frown of concern Connor quickly wiped from his face.

‘Well, it’s not that I don’t believe you,’ Connor’s voice was slightly teasing, ‘But I did promise your overbearing brother that I would take the best possible care of you, so maybe I’ll just take a look all the same, hmm?’ He was reaching for Jay’s head, pen light ready, when Jay’s right hand snapped up and around his wrist.

‘What?’ Jay’s voice cracked as he finally looked Connor straight in the face. The doctor had flinched hard when he grabbed him, and Jay knew he needed to loosen his grip, but what Connor had said… ‘What do you mean you promised Will? When? Is he alive?!’ He tugged on Connor’s wrist, watching the doctor wince but not able to care. Instead he watched Connor’s face range from confusion to realisation to guilt.

‘Jay, man, I’m so sorry- I just assumed-‘ Connor glanced back at someone at the door. ‘No, it’s fine, stay out there.’ Jay spared a brief amount of attention to note it was a security guard Connor was waving off. ‘Jay,’ -his attention snapped back to the doctor- ‘Will is going to be fine. He’s upstairs in the ICU, because he needed surgery to repair the damage, but he’s been awake on and off most of the day, and he’s going to be absolutely fine.’ Jay knew Connor was repeating it because he thought Jay might not be able to understand. Normally it would annoy him - right not he’d happily listen to those same words a thousand times - fine, fine, fine, he was going to be fine.

‘He’s alive?’ That was what he needed to hear more than anything.

‘He’s alive,’ Connor repeated. ‘He’s upstairs right now, I’ve spoken to him several times myself.’ Jay released his grip and Connor rubbed his wrist a little.

‘I’m sorry.’ It was more a reflex than anything but as Connor waved it off, and the world seemed to finally come back into proper focus - alive, he’s alive - Jay finally noticed that the doctor in front of him was also sporting a bruised jaw. It was more red than purple, like it was new, but it was a clear mark and would be much more obvious in a few hours. ‘What happened to you?’

Connor saw where he was staring and tried to brush that off too. ‘Nothing, don’t worry about it.’ He was reaching for his penlight again but even injured and drugged Jay was still a detective. The nurse who wouldn’t come into the room, the security guard, Connor flinching when he grabbed him.

‘I hit you.’ It wasn’t a question because Jay wasn’t asking. If he thought hard enough he remembered confusion, thinking he was back there, waiting for his team - his Ranger team. Damn, he must have taken a serious hit to the head.

‘You were confused and you have a concussion.’ Ethan walked into the room, grinning at his colleague. ‘And Connor needs to learn to duck faster.’

Connor smiled back, nodding in a self-depreciating way. ‘Yeah, yeah, make fun of the only guy here who doesn’t have military training.’

‘I’m sorry.’ It was more sincere this time. It had been a long time since Jay had thrashed out like that. Mouse had borne the brunt of it, but with similar training to Jay he’d rarely actually taken a hit. It was the part of his recovery Jay had struggled with the most - the lack of control, the potential to hurt somebody without even knowing it. He’d been trained to kill; he had been stateside for quite a long time before he’d dared let himself fall asleep next to someone, next to anyone, for fear of what he’d do.

Connor just shook his head. ‘It’s fine, Jay, really. You didn’t know what you were doing. It happens, forget it.’ It did happen, Will had come home with a black eye last month - ‘seizure’ was all he’d said, reaching for an ice pack.

‘I need to see Will.’

Connor and Ethan exchanged a look. ‘Yeah, we know,’ Ethan started, hands on the railing of the bed, ‘He wants to see you too. But you need a full work up and then more rest-‘ He held up a hand as Jay opened his mouth to argue. ‘Jay, I know - believe me I know. But Will is asleep now, sleep he really needs. And you need time for your injuries to settle before you think about moving.' Ethan had a no nonsense look in his eye that Jay reconsigned. 'It's almost midnight, so here's what we're going to do. You're going to let us check you over and then you're going to rest for a few more hours. If Will's tests come back as positive tomorrow morning as they did this evening then we'll be removing the chest tube and moving him from the ICU to Step Down. You don't need that level of care but I'm sure no one will look too hard into Will getting a double room. As soon as he's settled we'll move you in there. Does that sound okay?'

  
  


It really didn't, because it involved hours more before he could see Will for himself, finally see with his own eyes that his brother was okay. But he knew he wasn’t getting anywhere with the two doctors so instead of arguing he nodded, agreeing to the check up and anything else they needed to do, to get them out of the room. It was only as they started talking he really paid attention to what was wrong with him anyway - he honestly hadn’t given it any thought when he’d woken up first. His left arm was in a tight sling, immobilising a now reduced shoulder dislocation. His knee was strapped up, although it was only severe bruising, nothing worse. Hairline fractures to four ribs, one eye swollen shut, bruises and cuts over most of his upper body, and the electrical burns from the cattle prod.

‘We did an EKG,’ Ethan explained, tapping on his tablet, ‘And the electricity hasn’t done any damage to your heart rhythm, which is really positive. Our main point of concern is the cranial fracture you suffered. It’s right at the base of your skull, and it’s small, but it did cause a bleed. The bleeding had already stopped when you came in and it hasn’t restarted, which again, is very positive, but it does need to be monitored until it’s stabilised more.’ He smiled at Jay. ‘So you’re in here for the next 48hrs but if everything looks good after that we’ll let you go. The knee and shoulder will both need physio but we’ll talk that through in the morning. For now you need to rest.’

‘My team?’ Because Jay knew them well enough to know they’d be here somewhere.

Connor grinned as he glanced out the door. ‘Sargent Voight and Detective Lindsey are in the waiting room. Your boss sent everyone else home a few hours ago.’

Jay nodded. ‘Will you send them in - just for a minute? They won’t leave until they’ve seen me.’

‘Okay,’ Connor agreed, ‘Only because I know you’re right.’

He left to get them himself and Ethan patted Jay on his good shoulder. ‘You doing okay?’

Jay knew what he was asking - Ethan knew better than most that once it came out of the box it was really hard to cram it back in again. And he’d been there when Jay had come in. The reflex was to say he was fine, but that kind of wording, he’d found, was like a red rag to a bull when it came to doctors. So he chose his words more carefully. ‘I don’t really know, man, honestly. I’m too tired right now to think about it. It’s tomorrow’s problem.’ It must have been the right thing to say because Ethan smiled and squeezed his arm before letting go.

‘Okay,’ he said, making for the door, ‘That sounds like a plan. But you know you can talk - to me or Dr. Charles or whoever. Just let me know and I’ll make it happen.’

‘Yeah, thanks man.’ Jay waved a hand as Ethan disappeared and Hank and Erin replaced him in the doorway. Erin looked exhausted, movements slow and eyes red. But she smiled widely when she saw him, coming over to his good side, although she didn’t touch him.

‘Hey partner,’ she greeted, her voice huskier than usual, ‘You done milking this whole injured thing?’ She gestured to him in general.

Jay laughed a little, spreading his one good arm wider. ‘Good to go back to work - don’t I look it?’ His joke was cut short by a cough that burned through his ribs.

‘Alright, easy hotshot.’ Hank was smiling too though, from where he stood a little further back. ‘It’s enough to have you awake for now, I don’t need you breaking down doors for a few more days.’ It was as affectionate as Hank got, but that suited Jay fine.

‘It’s really good to see you awake.’ Erin’s voice was soft, and she reached out enough to squeeze his arm tightly, before pulling back again. He understood. And he also knew, fuzzy though his memory was, that it was more than just his injuries that had scared her.

‘The docs told me-’ he started, drawing both their attention- ‘I was pretty out of it when I came in. And I sort of remember some of it - I tried to fight you guys off, I’m sorry, I didn’t-‘

‘Jay, stop.’ Hank issued it as an order, not a request, but his face and voice were gentle. ‘You don’t need to keep going. You took a beating and you were confused when we got there. It’s not something you apologise for, kid. If you’re worried about it, it’s already forgotten.’

Erin nodded along, but she still looked upset. Jay opened his mouth to say something - he wasn’t sure what - but ended up yawning widely, pulling on his lip and various bruises. Erin just laughed at him. It was good to hear.

‘You don’t have to be rude about it,’ she joked, punching him very gently in the arm, ‘We’ll leave you to your beauty sleep.’

‘I don’t need beauty sleep, I’m already beautiful.’ His words slurred a little as he spoke and he was only now realising that Connor had probably put extra painkillers in his IV.

  
  


'Yeah, alright.' Erin smiled at him again before turning away. 'The team will be over in the morning to see you, so rest up.'

  
  


'Mmm,' he agreed, waving his good hand at the two of them as they made their way out. Then he was alone. The drugs were a complication, because he honestly felt like he could fall asleep standing up, but that could be fixed. It was hard, disconnecting the IV line with his hand in a sling, but he managed it. The nurse was going to be pissed at him because he didn't know how to stop the flow, so the small tube was left dripping onto the floor. But at least he hadn't pulled out the needle. Will complained a lot about people doing that and had even met Jay once with blood caked down one side of his scrubs. He hadn't had time to clean it up before Jay arrived for lunch and had nearly given Jay a heart attack.

  
  


Once the IV tube was out he had to get the side of the bed down. It was a lot harder from inside the bed, with one arm and bruised up ribs, but he got there. He had to stop and take a second before he actually started moving towards standing. Jay knew where the ICU was, he'd been there before.

  
  


Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  
  


Will awoke to the sound of the door sliding open. That was the one major disadvantage of the ICU - while the care was unparalleled, the sleep interruption was constant. He opened his eyes slowly and tried not to sigh as he turned to greet whichever of the night nurses it was this time…only to be met with the sight of his brother dragging himself into the room. And dragging was the only word for it. One good arm, leaning over his ribs and trying to not put too much weight on his right leg; it was a feat in itself that Jay was even upright, never mind moving.

Will had never been happier to see him.

Or more annoyed. As much as he had wanted to see Jay, wanted to know he was alright - Connor had been in earlier and given him the full run down of the damage. Jay had a skull fracture, a separated shoulder, his knee - he was a fall risk and a bleed risk and a thousand other risks. Will had wanted to see him more than anything, but not at the cost of Jay doing serious damage. And yet here he was, shuffling his way slowly and painfully across to Will’s bed.

‘Jay!’ Will hissed and watched Jay finally lift his head, green eyes locking onto Will’s. ‘What the hell are you doing up here?’

Will wanted to be angry but he knew his voice was just tired. It didn’t look like even shouting would have made a difference to Jay anyway, since his brother pretty much ignored the question, instead grabbing the edge of the mattress to aid his final few steps. He ended up on Will’s left side - the side that didn’t have the chest tube - just staring down at him. Will was pretty used to Jay’s habit of intense staring (it was a sniper thing) but the not talking was a little unnerving. Connor had also explained the bruised jaw, because Will had forced him to, and it was only now occurring to Will that maybe Jay wasn’t all there.

‘Jay?’ he asked again, voice soft. ‘Jay? Talk to me buddy.’ Touching Jay, when he was gone, was never a good idea but Will risked it anyway. He wrapped his hand around Jay’s good arm, loose enough to break the hold easily. Jay stared down at his hand and then back into Will’s eyes.

‘I thought you were dead.’ It was a whisper, quiet even in the stillness of the room. Then Jay was moving. It was incredibly awkward, his half climb onto the bed. He couldn’t bend his right knee, so it stayed out, his left folded under him to let him sit in the small space by Will’s hip. Will couldn’t move at all really and he couldn’t take any pressure on his abdomen, but Jay managed to lean himself up against Will’s chest, his chin on Will’s shoulder and his immobilised arm caught between them. Will did have both arms working and he wasted no time in wrapping them gently around Jay’s torso, feeling Jay’s good arm circle around his shoulder too, locking them together. ‘I thought you were dead,’ Jay said again, this time into Will’s neck, where he’d stuck his face.

Jay was his little brother - there was five years between them - but it wasn’t something Will got to indulge in. Jay had always been a fighter, always stood on his own two feet. The older they got the more prominent it was and by the time they were teenagers it was more often Jay looking out for Will. Sure, Will could hold his own in a fight, and he spent plenty of time treating Jay for minor injuries, but Jay just wasn’t someone who allowed other people indulge him, to look after him. Their mom had made a game of it, kissing Jay and hugging him whenever she got the opportunity, simply because she knew she was the only one he’d allow to do it. But Will, much as there were times he’d wanted to baby Jay, times he’d wanted to pull him in and hold on, had never been allowed that kind of access.

Even though his stomach hurt and he could feel the slightest pull from his chest tube, having Jay wrapped in his arms was the best feeling. A knot of tension he’d just learned to live with in the past day loosened in his chest and he took as deep a breath as he dared. Jay smelt of blood and antiseptic and sweat, but it didn’t matter.

‘I thought you were dead.’ Jay said it one more time, no louder than before, but wetter, a choked off sob half way through. He wouldn’t cry, not properly, Will knew that. But that didn’t mean he shouldn’t.

‘I was kind of worried about you too, little brother.’ Will tightened his hold just a tiny bit, mindful of Jay’s injuries. Jay’s hair was soft under his hand - someone must have cleaned off the blood from the hit at the base of his skull. ‘When I woke up in the apartment, and you were gone, and I didn’t know-‘ Will was crying, he could feel the tightness in his throat and the warm trail of tears down his cheeks. But he didn’t care. ‘And then hours later, they still hadn’t found you, and all I could think was what were they doing to you. What-‘ He stopped again. He didn’t even know what he wanted to say. Maybe he didn’t want to say anything, maybe he just wanted to hold onto Jay for a minute.

‘I’m okay.’ Jay punctuated it with strong sniff, trying to clear his nose. But he didn’t move. Neither of them did.

Will wasn’t sure how long they sat there. Long enough for both of them to feel the effect on their various injuries, but they ignored it. Long enough that Jay was breathing softly on Will’s shoulder, not asleep but half way there, when the distinct sound of a camera phone going off filled the room. Will, who had a view of the door, grabbed Jay quickly enough to stop him spinning around and hurting himself.

‘Maggie,’ he greeted, more to let Jay know who it was and that he could take his time getting up. ‘What are you doing?’

The charge nurse was smiling widely as she came into the room, an empty wheelchair pulled along behind her. She held up the phone screen, showing a picture of the two of them. ‘Oh I’m definitely printing that one - you two are adorable.’ She smiled at both of them as Jay slowly brought himself around, still sitting on the edge of the bed, but now facing outwards. ‘And how are my two favourite trouble makers?’

Jay was just frowning at her, not really following what was going on. ‘What?’

Maggie only smiled wider, addressing Will pointedly. ‘I got a call from Miranda, the night nurse on Ward 6, panicking because she’d ‘lost Dr. Halstead’s brother’.’ She turned to Jay, who was putting two and two together and starting to look a little sheepish, although he mostly just looked tired. ‘I told her not to worry, I’d bring him back.’ She indicated the chair she had brought, which Jay eyed with an air of resignation.

‘Busted.’ Will chuckled, although tiredness was rapidly catching him too. He’d give out to Jay for coming up here tomorrow. He didn’t have the energy right then. ‘Take him away, Maggie.’ He waved his arm and laughed with her as Jay sighed dramatically before letting her help him into the chair. She secured his bad knee into a raised position before turning the chair so it was facing Will’s bed.

‘Now say goodnight you two. You’ll be sharing a room tomorrow so you’ll have plenty of time to go back to bickering then.’ She gave Will one last smile and wheeled Jay out of the room. Will was asleep as soon as Jay was out of his sight.

  
  



	7. It Was An Accident...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this started out as a funny little piece about having your cop brother bail you out...but then it kind of grew a little from there...

‘Hey Will, what’s up?’ Jay twirled a pen on his desk as he answered the phone, having seen his brother’s name across the screen. Will had been on call the last day and night, and Jay would have expected him to be out cold by now. But it wasn’t exactly unusual for him to call and suggest breakfast or to let Jay know he’d be home and asleep, so Jay didn’t think much of it. Until Will started talking…

‘Jay,’ Will began, his tone a little honeyed, ‘Firstly, I want you to know that no one got hurt, and this really is just a mountain out of a mole hill.’

Jay dropped the pen and leaned forward. ‘Will - what the hell is that supposed to mean? Where are you calling me from? What happened?’

Jay could hear Will take a deep breath. ‘I’m at the 15th District, but Jay-‘

‘You’re where?! Why are you at the 15th?!’

Antonio, the only other one in the bullpen, looked over at Jay’s exclamation, cocking his head in query. Jay waved him off, listening to Will stutter through an explanation.

‘Jay, listen,’ Will’s voice had taken on a notable whine, ‘I just got off a 24hr, I’m wrecked. But I was safe to drive - you know I wouldn’t get behind the wheel if I wasn’t.’ Jay almost interrupted but clenched his fist to keep himself quiet. This was not sounding good. At all. Jay knew his brother wouldn’t risk anyone’s life, but the combination of being in a police district and admitting to driving exhausted… His anxiety was obviously showing, because Antonio had made his way over now, a frown on his face. ‘And I just didn’t check my mirrors carefully enough when I reversed,’ Will was still going, speaking faster, ‘That’s all - it could have happened to anyone. The truck in front of me needed more space so I just backed up a little. They’re acting like I deliberately damaged that cruiser.’ Jay closed his eyes and pinched his nose. Now he was starting to get a much clearer picture of what happened and anxiety was being replaced with annoyance.

‘You backed into a patrol car?’ Jay asked, just to clarify. It was almost amusing to watch Antonio do a double take next to him.

‘It was an accident, Jay.’

‘Well obviously, you idiot, I didn't think you'd taken up vandalism of police property as a hobby.'

  
  


'Jay.' Will spoke a little faster and now he sounded worried. 'The uniforms in the car were really rough about it. I apologised, and explained what had happened, but they insisted on me coming down here for a sobriety test. I told them to call you and they got kind of mad, like I was trying to get out of it by mentioning your name-'

  
  


'Well weren't you?' Jay pointed out, already out of his chair and pulling his jacket on one handed. Antonio shook his own keys and indicated he'd drive.

  
  


'No!' Will didn't sound at all convincing. 'I'm not denying what happened, but it's hardly the crime of the century - Jay, look,’ Will’s tone became a little more urgent, ‘I don’t know if someone here has a problem with you, or if they’re just really protective of their cars, or what, but they’re making a really big deal of this.’

A shout could be heard over the receiver. ‘Oi, you! You get a phone call not a therapy session - cut it off now!’

‘Jay?’ Will sounded stressed now and Jay felt just a little bit of concern creep back in.

‘Hey, I’m already on my way, okay?’ Antonio held open the gate for him. ‘Just sit tight and don’t say anything, I’ll be there in twenty.’

He could hear Will’s sigh over the phone. ‘Thanks Jay.’ Then the line went dead.

Antonio watched Jay jiggling his foot up and down in the passenger’s seat, chewing on the side of his thumb and staring out the window. ‘You okay, man?’ he asked, glancing over as he took a right. ‘We’ll get it sorted out as soon as we’re down there - it’s not serious.’

‘Hmm, yeah, I know.’ Jay did know that, but he had a feeling in his gut that he couldn’t quite place. Backing into a cruiser was just a minor traffic event. Most cops wouldn’t even be bothered filling out the paperwork - the shop would take care of any little dent, and things like that happened all the time. Taking Will into the district was serious overkill, and there had to be a reason. Jay’s concern, knowing his brother as he did, was that Will had mouthed off or gotten combative about the situation. Will wouldn’t have admitted it on the phone, so he wouldn’t know until he got the other side of the story, but it wasn’t as though Will didn’t have a history of going off on people he thought were in the wrong. It got him in trouble in work all the time, even if it was always coming from a good place.

‘It’s probably some uni with a bee in his bonnet,’ Antonio continued, unconsciously linking in to Jay’s thoughts, ‘Blew the whole thing out of proportion. We can smooth it out no problem.’

Jay sighed, shaking himself out of his funk and forcing a smile for his friend. ‘Yeah, man, you’re right, nothing to worry about.’

The 15th was very different to the 21st. Rebuilt only five years previously, in a fancier and therefor much more modern area of town, it was a huge concrete block filled with shiny metal surfaces. Jay preferred the warm tones and familiar feel of his old, retro-fitted station. But then, he’d been accused before of being sentimental. The lobby looked like it belonged in a stock exchange, and the front desk was a huge sweeping semi-circle, several officers sitting behind it. They had headsets on and Jay took an irrational dislike to the whole thing.

Still, the female uniform who looked up at them when they approached smiled kindly, eyeing the badges dangling around their necks.

‘Can I help you, Sirs?’

‘Yeah.’ Jay tried to focus on her and not look around the lobby, as if Will would just be hanging out here. ‘I got a call to say my brother had been brought in here after some minor traffic accident. His name’s William Halstead - could you tell me where to find him please?’

‘Jay Halstead, as I live and breathe.’

The voice came from behind them, loud and distinctly sneering. Antonio and Jay both spun at the same time, Jay resisting the urge to put a comforting hand on his weapon. Because he recognised that voice. He’d had that voice, barking orders at him, for the first six months on his time as a uniform. Officer Marcus Jenkins had been assigned to the newly graduated Jay as a training partner, and they had driven patrol together. Jay, less than two years out of the army and fresh out of the academy, hadn’t minded Jenkins ‘top brass’ style of dishing out orders to anyone and everyone - his favourite target being his rookie partner. Jay had seen much worse in the way of superiors over the years, and he was there to learn, so he’d just bitten his tongue and gotten on with it. Until getting on with it had involved harassing female colleagues, and roughing up drug addled vagrants, and ducking calls to difficult neighbourhoods. The Jay had quickly and quietly gone to his Sergeant and requested a transfer. The Sergeant had pulled in Jenkins, wanting to know why, and the whole thing had gotten ugly fast. Jay had flatly refused to make any comment beyond his request for a new partner, knowing enough about internal politics to know the damage this could do - more to him than his partner. He’d gotten a new trainer, but Jenkins had been scuttlebutt for a long time. And had clearly never moved past patrol.

‘Jenkins,’ Jay greeted, gritting his teeth and watching Antonio tense in reaction to his tone, ‘I didn’t know you were at the 15th now.’

Jenkins grinned widely, unpleasantly, ‘And I didn’t know your brother was back in town. Went from boob jobs in New York to endangering police lives back home, huh?’

  
  


A lot of pieces fell into place together and Jay growled low in his throat. ‘It was your car.’

Jenkins tucked his thumbs into his belt and grinned widely. ‘That your brother hit? Yes it was. I could barely believe it when he gave me his license. In fact I still wasn’t convinced, until he told me to call you in Intelligence. You don’t look a thing alike, you know that?’

‘Jay?’ Antonio knew him well enough to have grabbed his arm as soon as Jay tensed. His grip was tight and his voice distracting enough to stop Jay from doing something very stupid. ‘Who is this guy?’

‘Marcus Jenkins and I rode together for a very short time after I left the academy.’ Jay bit out the words and Antonio didn’t need to ask how it had ended.

‘And you brought Dr. Halstead all the way down here over a simple fender bender?’ Antonio asked instead. He didn’t let go of Jay’s arm.

‘Halstead-’ Jenkins purposefully dropped the title- ‘was acting erratically. I was concerned he was under the influence. I was doing my job.’ His grin was still in place.

Antonio scoffed, tugging Jay back a little. ‘And a breathalyser wouldn’t do? Sure, sure.’ He didn’t break eye contact with Jenkins. ‘Detective Halstead-‘ emphasis on the title- ‘is going to go down to holding and get his brother. You and I will sort this out.’ Antonio tugged again. ‘Jay, go.’

Jay didn’t particularly want to go. In fact what he wanted was to finally give Jenkins a demonstration of some of the those Ranger fighting techniques the man used to badger him about on patrol. But he wanted to find Will more. His brother had sounded okay on the phone, but now that Jay knew Jenkins was involved he could imagine what had gone on while getting Will here. So he swallowed down the anger and nodded his thanks to Antonio, glaring at Jenkins as he walked back to the desk. A few moments later and a uniform had been pulled up to buzz him down to holding. He found Will sitting back against the wall of a small cell, a younger man sitting next to him and chatting away animatedly, although he stopped when Jay and the uniform appeared, eyeing them warily. Will looked up at the sudden silence and smiled widely when he spotted Jay, although even his movements were tired, when he stood slowly.

‘Hey, man.’ Will sounded exhausted too. ‘Thanks.’

The uniform was already unlocking the door, and Jay nodded his thanks as Will walked out towards him. He was about to speak when the man who was still in the cell called out.

‘Ah hell no, doc - you’re a snitch? That ain’t right! I thought you were good people!’

Will spun around, a totally confused look on his face. ‘A snitch? I don’t…?’

Jay just rolled his eyes and pulled on Will’s arm to make him move. ‘He thinks you’re my CI - they get immunity from minor offences. He’s not a CI-‘ Jay addressed the guy in the cell- ‘he’s just innocent.’

‘Tell your mum I’m thinking of her,’ Will called back, as Jay pulled him down the corridor, and Jay snorted.

‘Seriously? Did you have to make friends?’

‘His mum’s got Hodgkin's, Jay.’ Will finally refocused on his brother. ‘I was just explaining the diagnoses for him.’

Now the uniform with them was chuckling softly under his breath and Jay rolled his eyes again. ‘Of course you were.’ He looked over to the uniform. ‘Where can I pick up his stuff?’

The officer pointed to their left, away from the elevator they’d come down in. ‘Check in desk is down there on your right, detective. They’ll have it all there.’ He headed straight to the elevator himself.

Will sagged a little after he’d gone and it was just the two of them in an empty corridor. Jay’s hand went straight to his shoulder, squeezing gently. ‘You okay?’

Will nodded, but the hand he ran through his hair and the heavy sigh said otherwise. ‘Yeah, I’m okay. Just tired. And a little confused to be honest.’

Jay grimaced. He had thought Will might have mouthed off at the arresting officer and that’s what had gotten him in trouble. And instead it was Jay’s fault. ‘The officer whose car you hit,’ he started, biting the bullet, ‘He and I…’ he stopped, wondering how to phrase it, ‘I was assigned to his patrol when I was just out of the academy. It didn’t end well.’

  
  


Will blinked at him for a second and then sighed. 'What did you do, shoot him or something? He all put threw me into the back of his car.'

  
  


'Did he hurt you?!' Jay wasn't exactly unfamiliar with roughing up a suspect on the way to the precinct. But Will was quick to shake his head.

  
  


'No, no, he didn't. I'm fine.' He sighed again as they started slowly towards the desk. 'I'd just really like to get out of here.'

  
  


'Yeah, I hear you.' Jay patted his brother's back sympathetically as he nodded to the desk officer, flashing his badge. 'Belongings of William Halstead please.'

  
  


'Wait,' Will stopped half way to the elevator, fishing his phone out of the plastic bag he'd been given, 'Where's my car?'

  
  


Jay winced, knowing full well the answer to that. 'It'll have been towed to the police lot. I'll get it for you, I promise. It'll be at home when you wake up later.'

  
  


Will - a sure sign of how tired he was - didn't say anything, just nodded and blinked slowly. 'Sleep is all I want right now.'

  
  


Jay pushed the button and eyed his brother from the side. 'Tough shift?'

  
  


'Flu season.'

  
  


Jay grimaced, jokingly moving a little further away. 'Ouch. So you're tired and infectious.'

  
  


Will half heartedly glared at him as the elevator pinged. 'I'm not infectious because I got my flu shot. Unlike some people I could mention...' It was an old argument and would have carried on if the doors hadn't opened to reveal a frowning Antonio.

  
  


'Hey, there you are,' he greeted, gesturing them both into the car. 'Will, you okay?'

  
  


'I'm fine, man, thanks. Sorry you got dragged into this too.'

  
  


Antonio just waved a hand, fishing his keys out and handing them to Jay. His phone was in his other hand. 'Don't be. Jay, take my car and drive Will home. I'll meet you back at the district, I need to call Voight.'

  
  


'Hey, no, hang on.' Will was suddenly a lot more alert. 'Antonio, I appreciate it, but this is not that serious – do not call Voight.'

  
  


Jay would have agreed but Antonio was wagging a finger in Will's direction, attention already back on his phone. 'This isn't about you, Will, this is about _respect_.' He stepped out into the lobby with them. 'And I won't be spoken to like that by some jumped up uniform!' His voice rose a little at the end and he physically reigned himself in, as Jay patted him sympathetically on the back.

  
  


'He's a piece of work, right?' Jay agreed. 'He obviously hasn't changed in all the years.'

  
  


'I swear Jay-' Antonio shook his head as his phone started to dial through to Voight- 'I don't know how you didn't kill him when you shared a car.' He nodded towards the door, giving Jay a light push. 'Now go, get out of here. I'll take care of everything else.'

  
  


Will had wanted to stay and sort it out himself, no doubt feeling a little guilty about how much bigger the situation was getting, but Jay pulled him out the door. 'Antonio is fighting his own battle, man,' he told Will as they walked to the car, 'Not yours. So just leave him to it.'

  
  


On a normal day maybe Will would have spent the trip arguing about that but the second Jay started the engine Will's head was against the side window and his breathing was evening out. He slept the whole ride back to their apartment and Jay had to shake him hard when he finally stopped the car.

  
  


'Wha-?' Will looked completely confused when he half opened his eyes, one hand pushing Jay's off his shoulder. Jay just chuckled, already getting out to come around to the passenger's side.

  
  


'Come on sleeping beauty.' He reached in to undo Will's seat belt and half drag his brother into a standing position. 'You can't sleep in Antonio's car, let's get you upstairs.' Will swayed a little but stayed upright.

  
  


To his credit he also made it up the three flights of stairs and to their door without tripping over anything, even though Jay wasn't convinced he'd made the whole climb with his eyes open. When they got inside though Will tried to make for the couch and grumbled loudly when Jay grabbed the back of jacket, pulling him back.

  
  


'Oh no,' Jay pulled a little harder, and then started pushing Will towards his own room. 'If you collapse on that couch you're still going to be there in ten hours. Bed. Now.'

  
  


Jay was already on his way back out of the room, Will sitting on the side of the bed making slow work of removing his shoes, when the older man spoke.

  
  


'Thanks for coming to get me Jay, I didn't mean for it to make a mess.'

  
  


Jay sighed, tapping a hand against the door frame to hide his own irritation at the whole situation. 'None of it's your fault Will. Jenkins is an asshole and it was just bad luck it was his cruiser. That being said-' he grinned back at his brother- 'Don't make a habit of hitting police cars, please? I can only bail you out so many times.' He laughed as Will tried to throw a shoe at him and hit the dresser instead. The second one was more accurate, if the thump against the door he'd just closed was anything to go by. 'I'll have your car back this evening!' he called through the wood, a heartfelt 'Thanks!' coming back at him. He was sure Will was asleep before he even made it back downstairs.


	8. Congratulations, idiot!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guys I'm sorry I just disappeared - work got absolutely mental. But I took a few days off (much needed!) and I've finished another three chapters, all of which will be up through the week..
> 
> So this chapter is a short little piece about Jay getting into Intelligence, and it covers something I feel pretty strongly about with this show. Jay and Will say several times that they weren't close before Will moved back to Chicago; Will says he wasn't there for Jay when he needed him, and Jay complains that Will didn't help with their mother. But whenever something from their pasts come up the other one knows all about it. Like when Jay's not-so-ex-wife shows up Will knows all about her, in fact she has Will's number - a bit weird for someone Jay was married to for a week? And Will feels guilty for not being there during Jay's PTSD but he knew that Jay was going through it, knew that Mouse was helping. Will has all these stories about cases Jay's worked on, and Jay knows all about Will's time in Sudan. Now, that doesn't sound like two brothers who barely spoke to each other for years - that sounds like two people who called and emailed a lot. At least I think so...

Ringing gave way to Will's voice. 'Hey Jay, what's up?'

'Hey Will. Oh you know, nothing much – just your brother moving up in the world.'

Jay could hear Will chuckle and knew the older man was rolling his eyes, even if there was no one there to see him. 'Oh yeah?' he joked, 'They've made you Commissioner already, have they?'

Now Jay rolled his own eyes, shifting a little on the couch to get his arm into a more comfortable position. He hadn't taken any of the painkillers they'd given him at the hospital and his shoulder ached. 'Haha, yeah right. No man, I mean Intelligence – I'm in!' 

He'd told Will all about Intelligence when Sergeant Voight had set it up two months ago. Antonio had been one of the first detectives recruited to the team and Jay had shamelessly plugged him for information from day one. Now he was finally getting his shot at it. 

'Really?' Will had had to listen to Jay talk about this team a lot, so he knew how much it meant. 'You got a spot? How?' 

Jay looked down at the sling holding his left arm in place. 'Ah, well, you know the way I've been working UC for the last while? Well, I can't go into details but basically it ended with me sort of saving Antonio Dawson's sister's life. So he owed me one.'

'Wow – and he got you in, just like that?'

'He cares about his sister, man. He spoke to Voight and got me a trial run – I start in three weeks.' 

There was a pause and Jay knew he brother well enough to know he was thinking something over. 'Three weeks?' he eventually said, his voice curious rather than teasing. 'I would have thought you'd be starting tomorrow.'

And that was Will becoming suspicious. Jay, who had no intention of telling him about his injury, just powered through it. 'I wish!' He kept his voice light. 'But there's paperwork to do and my old job to finish up, I can't just jump from one to another. But man, this is going to be amazing! Voight's team handles the toughest cases in the city – this is serious big leagues!'

'It sounds dangerous.' 

'Will.' His brother was really dampening the mood. Jay wanted to celebrate – he'd been working towards this from the minute the team was formed. 'My job is dangerous, period. Is Intelligence safe? No, of course not. Running around Afghanistan wasn't either. But I'll have the best watching my back. And I'm kind of good at this, you know?' He punctuated his little rant by flopping back against the couch cushions. It was a childish move, and more than that it was incredibly stupid because he couldn't control the groan that left his mouth, as the impact jarred his shoulder. 

'Jay?' 

'Sorry, I caught...my hand in- in the... fridge door?' It was a lame excuse – Jay could only forgive it for the fact that he was very tired. And he had been shot six hours ago. 

'You're hurt.' Will didn't ask, it was a statement. Jay tried to deny it anyway.

'No, I'm fine. I just-'

'I'm hanging up.' Will's tone brokered no argument. 'I'm hanging up and calling you back on Skype, and I swear to God Jay if you don't take the call I'll be buying a plane ticket five minutes from now.' 

'Will, don't be-' Dial tone greeted him and Jay sighed, lowering the phone from his ear. True to his word not twenty seconds later the phone was ringing, this time for a video call. Jay sighed again, ran a hand quickly through his hair and held the phone up to his face. He schooled his features into fond irritation (a common expression when dealing with his brother) and answered the call. 

Will was in his apartment; Jay could see his tiny kitchen in the background. His hair looked wet and he was wearing a Blackhawks jersey. You could take the boy out of Chicago...

'Jay! What happened to your shoulder?'

Jay had changed out of his ruined Henley when he got home from the hospital, and the easiest thing to get on had been a one of the sleeveless tees he usually wore to the gym. It hadn't involved too much maneuvering around but it did really show off the white bandages and the dark sling straps against his skin. There was no way to hide it.

'Look,' Jay started, aiming for reassuring, 'It's not serious, at all. It was a through-and-through, barely even needed stitches-'

'You were shot?!' 

'Yes-' Jay interrupted, watching Will's eyes going wide, 'But like I just said, it's not serious, I'm fine.'

Will searched his face for any trace of a lie – Jay just stared him down – and then frowned deeply. 'You were shot and you weren't even going to mention it to me.'

'You worry too much about this stuff, man. I'm fine.'

'I only worry so much-' Will actually pointed his finger at the screen, like Jay was a little kid, 'Because you do things like get shot and don't tell me. I have to worry all the time because you won't tell me the times I actually need to.'

'Alright, alright!' Jay threw his head back against the couch, giving up and smiling despite it. 'I'm sorry. But I seriously am fine, which is why you don't need to worry. Now can you maybe congratulate me on this huge move in my career?'

Will made a face but then smiled. 'Congratulations, idiot, on earning a promotion by getting shot. Is this how you do it in the CPD?' 

'Hell yeah it is!' Jay grinned widely and then laughed outright as Will face palmed.

'Fine, fine, I give up!' The view behind Will moved and Jay heard the fridge door opened. 'How about I drink to your new job, will that do?' 

'Now that's more like it,' Jay agreed, heaving himself off the couch and heading to his own kitchen. 'And also a good idea, I'll join you. Although...' He'd just realised he couldn't open the fridge and hold the phone. Will was watching him as he frowned at the camera. 'I only have one good hand, hang on.' 

'Are you sure you're okay?' Will asked, even as Jay started propping the phone up on the counter. 'I have vacation time, I could fly over for a few days, help out?'

'What, open beers for me?' Jay joked, leaving the phone to grab a bottle, expertly tapping off the top against the counter edge. He raised it in Will's direction and then took a swig. 'I'm all good but thanks.'

'You shouldn't be drinking on painkillers, Jay.'

'Joke's on you Will, I didn't take any painkillers.' He took another swig and laughed as his brother groaned. 

'Why do I even bother?' Will asked, shaking his head. 

'I really don't know, man – you're a sucker for punishment, I guess.' Jay chuckled and raised his bottle again. 'Now didn't you say something about drinking to my success?' 

'Yeah, yeah.' Will rolled his eyes and tapped his own beer off the phone screen with an audible clink. 'To my suicidal baby brother's success.' 

'Cheers!'


	9. The Job Really Sucks Sometimes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this one is the (very long!) episode tag to the Season 3 opener where Jay got kidnapped. Because in the show they just glossed over the whole thing, and then Will was in Mollys saying Jay would be out of work for a week. So I fixed that :-)
> 
> Also, a few people have requested sequels to a few of these chapters - they are all in the works, I'm getting there!

‘Dr. Halstead!’

Will looked up quickly at Sharon Goodwin’s call. He dreaded his name on her lips, it was never for anything good. But he hadn’t done anything in the last few days - not that he could think of anyway. He hadn’t ignored any patient’s wishes, or broken any rules - he hadn’t even lost any patients, which, going on four days now, was probably some kind of Chicago record.

‘Dr. Halstead,’ the hospital administrator said again, as she stopped level with the main desk, where Will had been filling in paperwork. Her mobile was in her hand and she didn’t look angry, if anything she looked a little worried. ‘I just had a call from Hank Voight.’ If Will had been attached to a heart monitor in that moment there would have been an alarm going off. He was on his feet in a second but Goodwin already had her hands up in a calming gesture. ‘Your brother was hurt on a case and is on his way here in an ambulance, but he’s stable and not suffering from any serious injuries. Hank wanted you to know before he arrived.’

Stable and not suffering from any serious injuries. _Hurt_. ‘What happened?!’ Will would never normally speak to his boss in such a demanding manner but Jay was his weak spot, and everybody knew it.

Goodwin, to her credit, ignored the tone and answered truthfully. ‘Hank didn’t get into details, he just said Jay had been hurt, treated on the scene and will be here in about ten minutes.’ She looked over to her right and called ‘Maggie!’ The nurse came right over, eyeing Will and then Goodwin with a questioning stare. ‘Maggie,’ Goodwin spoke again, ‘Take Dr. Halstead off rotation for the next hour and have Dr. Choi ready to take in the next ambulance - it will have Jay Halstead in it.’

‘What?’ Maggie immediately grabbed Will’s arm in a comforting gesture, and Will tried his best to smile at her.

‘It’s not serious, apparently.’ Will ran a hand through his hair and sighed, already throwing glances at the ambo bay doors. He caught his boss’ eye as she turned to make her way back upstairs. ‘Thank you, Miss Goodwin, I appreciate you coming down.’

She nodded silently at him and disappeared. When he turned around he found Maggie had called Ethan over from whatever patient he had been working on and was briefing him while simultaneously tapping into the beeping on-call phone in her hand. She looked up as Will joined them, accepting a shoulder squeeze from Ethan. ‘They’re just arriving in now - he’s listed as non-critical. Choi will treat him. You-‘ She poked a finger into Will’s chest, ‘Will stay out of his way and not touch any of the equipment. You know you’re not allowed treat family.’ She softened it by smiling at him. ‘I’m sure he’ll be fine - go on and I’ll send you April to assist.’

Will smiled back, a little less strained this time, and jogged after Ethan, just in time to meet the stretcher coming through the doors. Will had seen a lot of things come through those doors; GSWs, horrific car accidents, assault victims. Objectively, he knew bruises and superficial cuts looked dramatic but didn’t do any damage. But there was nothing objective about watching his baby brother be rolled in, his skin a hundred shades of red, purple and yellow, his left eye swollen shut, and his torso - oh God, those were electrical burns. The only saving grace was that Jay was sitting up against the stretcher, his one good eye open and obviously alert. He rolled his head to the side as Will came running up, blinking tiredly, but his voice clear.

‘I’m fine’ were predictably the first words out of his mouth. ‘It looks worse than it is.’

Ethan was getting the run down from the paramedics behind and Will probably should have been paying attention to that, but instead he was fully focused on Jay, who closed his eyes as they swung the bed around, only opening them again when they stopped moving. Will reached up a hand, trying to find a spot on his brother’s face that wasn’t bruised, and ended up cupping the back of his neck, one thumb running down his jaw very gently.

‘It looks pretty bad, Jay.’ He spoke softly but before his brother could respond Ethan cleared his throat.

‘Can you slide over onto the bed, Jay? We can move you if it’s easier?’ Ethan patted the ED bed the stretcher had been pulled up against, the head already raised to a soft recline.

Jay shook his head, clearly trying to wake himself up a bit. ‘I’ve got it.’ He made a good stab at it but struggled putting weight on both his arms and in the end it was a combination of he, Will and Ethan that slid him across. He sighed and was about to flop back, but April stopped him.

‘Don’t lean back just yet,’ she asked, her voice soft and her smile kind, ‘I want to cut that shirt down the back so I can pull it off without moving your arms too much.’ She was holding a large scissors and moved quickly and efficiently as soon as Jay nodded. Will slipped closer and offered outstretched arms for Jay to lean against - it was obvious the detective was struggling to support himself against damaged ribs. Two seconds later and Will lowered him gently back against the bed, as April pulled the shirt down each of his arms - now in two pieces.

Jay smiled at her as she worked. ‘Thanks.’ April just patted his arm, already moving towards the bin with his now ruined clothes. Will was busy looking at the even more extensive damage revealed by the lack of shirt. Bruises, yellow and purple and therefore several hours old, stretched up and down his sides. The electrical burns were dotted across his whole torso and his wrists were red raw. Will was trying to maintain his professionalism, to assess the injuries and the likeliness of them being serious, but his mind was just a litany of ‘Who did this? What did they do? _Why, why, why_?’

‘So, Jay,’ Ethan crossed his arms and grinned lightly at his patient, ‘Midnight stroll gone wrong?’

Jay snorted and then groaned a little, one hand snaking around his left side. ‘Yeah,’ his voice was pained, ‘Something like that.’

‘Alright,’ Ethan glanced at the monitors as they came online - Jay’s vitals were steady, though stressed. ‘Why don’t you give me a rundown of what happened and then we’ll get you sorted out.’

Will felt Jay tense under his hand and was about to step in, offer reassurance or…something. But Jay was eyeing _him_ with a wary look, not Ethan. ‘Give us a sec?’ he asked, twitching his hand, the one Will was holding the wrist of, towards the door.

‘Jay-‘ Will started to argue immediately, but Jay’s eyes were tired and he felt Ethan's hand land on his arm, tugging very lightly.

‘Maybe that’s not a bad idea, Will?’ his colleague suggested, and when he looked up Ethan was giving him a pointed look.

‘Jay-’ Will tried again but his brother had closed his eyes again. His voice was soft.

‘Please Will - trust me.’ He wasn’t begging, Jay never begged, but Will knew him too well to deny that request. He nodded, pushing down his own feeling of rejection - this wasn’t about him - and nodded to Ethan as he made for the door. He had it open before Jay’s voice sounded again. ‘Wait, Will!’ Will was immediately back at his side but Jay’s attention was out in the corridor, looking for something. His eyes went to Will again. ‘Erin came with me in the ambulance. She told everyone she was fine but-‘ Jay glanced outside again, ‘But she took a beating, she needs to be checked out.’ His brother’s eyes were more focused than they had been since he arrived. ‘Check her over, will you? She got me out…’

Will hadn’t seen Erin when Jay was rolled in, but he had been pretty distracted. What was more surprising was that she was involved at all. Jay hadn’t told him much about what was going on with the two of them, but he knew Erin hadn’t been to work in three weeks, and Jay had been pining - not that Will would have dared use that word around his brother. Erin was grieving, Jay had told him that, but there was a darkness in his brother’s eyes when he’d said it, like grieving wasn’t the heart of the problem. Will had felt anger towards her, when Jay had seemed so lost some nights over the last month. And even now, the question of how Jay had gotten himself into this mess to begin with - with no one watching his back - was playing on the edges of his mind. But right now all that mattered was what Jay wanted.

Will patted Jay’s arm, aiming for a spot not covered in bruises. ‘I’ll go and see to her now, don’t worry about it.’ Jay looked relieved all the same, and let Ethan start questioning him as Will made his way back out onto the floor, glancing around for his potential patient.

Maggie saw him searching and, with that psychic ability nurses seemed to have, pointed outside. ‘She’s out in the bay. She’s a mess.’

Even with that warning Will was really glad he had seen Jay before Erin. Because if she had been the first thing he’d met, looking the way he found her out by the emergency doors, he would have been convinced Jay was dead. Erin was more than a mess; her hands were red right up to the elbows, more blood splattered liberally across her chest and soaked through one side of her shirt. Patches decorated her jeans well. The only bit of her not covered was her face, but as Will approached that was nearly worse - her eyes were totally vacant and she didn’t seem to hear him the first two times he called her name. Knowing it was potentially a stupid move he slowly, very slowly, reached out and touched her shoulder. Predictably she flinched strongly and tripped away from him, snapping out of her reverie and only relaxing very slightly when she recognised him. The sigh she released, and the bloody hand she ran unthinkingly through her hair, were world weary.

‘Hey Will, how’s Jay?’ Her usually husky voice was downright horse and now that he was closer he could make out the faint, but already darkening, marks of a hand around her throat.

He still didn’t know exactly what had happened, although the diagnostic side of his brain could piece it together, but looking at Erin he pushed his own curiosity and anger aside. Whatever had happened between Jay and her, whatever had happened to Jay in the last twenty four hours - it was obvious how far Erin had gone to get his brother back safe. If he was going to be angry, or upset, or shout - it wasn’t going to be at her.

‘He’s with Choi, but he looks like he’s going to be fine.’ Will watched her slowly absorb his words and nod, eyes still vacant. ‘Erin?’ He waited until she was focused on him. ‘Is any of that blood yours?’

She blinked at him and then looked down slowly, raising her hands to examine them. He almost reached for her, scared she might collapse, but instead she just shook her head. ‘I was going to wash it off...’ Her voice was very soft.

Shock, Will’s mind supplied, and this time he did reach out, but only to place one hand very gently on her lower back. ‘Okay,’ he said, his own voice quiet and reassuring, ‘Why don’t I help you with that?’ He gestured towards the doors of the ED and after a second of just looking Erin nodded again, allowing him to guide her through. She didn’t protest, or even speak at all, as he led her into a treatment room Maggie silently pointed out to him. She only looked up when he tried to get her on the bed, seeming to suddenly realise where she was.

‘I’m fine, Will, I don’t need treatment.’ She was blinking under the bright lights, but she looked just very marginally more with it when she met his eye.

Will smiled easily at her, already pulling on a pair of gloves. ‘Not that I don’t believe you, Erin, but Jay made me promise to check you out - said you took a few hits of your own? Also, you really do need to get some of that blood off you.’ He gestured to the bed. ‘And since Jay has kicked me out of his room, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me for now.’

Erin smiled back, though it didn’t reach her eyes, and lifted herself onto the edge of the bed, wincing as she did.

‘Ribs?’ Will asked, receiving a nod and deciding to start there. ‘Tell me when there’s pain.’ He moved slowly up and down each side of her rib cage, feeling for any movement or tenderness. Erin flinched once or twice but all told nothing seemed broken. ‘Did you hit your head?’ She shook no but he moved his hands up to her skull anyway, still not liking the glazed look she was sporting. Five minutes later and he hadn’t found anything worse than extensive bruising and a slightly damaged larynx. Erin hadn’t spoken once throughout it, just nodded yes and shook no to various questions. Will was digging around for gauze and saline to start cleaning her up when she volunteered her first piece of information.

‘There might be some glass in my back.’ She looked up at him as she said it, looking like she was starting to pull herself back from where ever she had gone. ‘I fell onto a coffee table. It broke.’

‘What-‘ Will cut himself off. Now wasn’t the time for an interrogation. 'Sorry, can I have a look?' She nodded and he made his way around to the other side of the bed, with her facing away from him. The back of her t-shirt didn't look nearly as bad as the front, but there were several small holes and some blood soaked into the fabric. He made his way back around. 'Looks like you have a few small cuts. I'll need to check if there's any glass embedded.' He eyed the t-shirt. 'That shirt's probably not really salvageable anyway, so why don't I just cut it and save you having to move your arms or aggravate the cuts? I can get you something else to wear afterwards.'

  
  


Another silent nod. It was only after Will had grabbed a scissors and pulled the curtain the rest of the way over that he stopped to think that this was his brother's girlfriend...or at least sort of his girlfriend.

  
  


'Ah, Erin?' She looked up again. 'I can get a nurse to do this, or Natalie, if you'd prefer?' He held up the scissors and gestured towards her top. It didn't actually bother Will – it was just a part of the job and if Erin had been brought in unconscious he would have simply treated her. But he didn't want her, or Jay, kicking up about it later. He should have known better...

  
  


Erin, after staring at him for a second, laughed in his face. It wasn't quite the laugh he was used to, not quite as full of life as it would have been four weeks ago. But she did laugh, wincing a little as it strained her throat but smiling at him with that old mischief. 'You Halstead boys,' she joked. 'You're all cocky charm until something needs doing. Then you're deer in headlights.' She gestured him forward. 'Go for it, Will. I don't mind if you don't?'

  
  


'I was asking for you, not me,' Will muttered, listening to her chuckle as he came around to her back again. But secretly he was pleased – that was the most life she'd shown since she'd arrived.

  
  


It took another ten minutes to clean up her back and finally rub most of the blood off her hands. Monique kindly donated a clean t-shirt from her locker and once she had that on Erin joined Will back out in the ED. Maggie had just told him Jay had gone upstairs for a CT when Voight walked in. The sergeant zeroed in on Erin's change of clothes, and the deepening bruises on her neck, and laid a hand gently on her shoulder when he came up.

  
  


'You okay, kid?' Erin nodded absently, not meeting his eye. Voight frowned at her but didn't say any more, instead turning his attention to Will.

  
  


'And what's the word on Jay, Will?'

  
  


'He's gone for a CT, which means there's plenty of time for you to give me an explanation of what the hell happened here.' A lot of that anger Will had temporarily buried was coming back to the surface. Erin tensed next to him but he didn't care.

  
  


'Excuse me?' Voight's reaction was less to the question and more to the tone.

  
  


'An explanation-' Will could feel his temper rising and really did try to reign it in at least a little. They were still in the middle of the ED. '-for why my brother was wheeled in here looking like he's been beaten half to death. An explanation for why I got a call ten minutes before he showed up with injuries that are from yesterday at least!' Some of the bruises had already been turning yellow.

  
  


Voight took a breath and Will braced himself. He knew he was pushing too far, he knew what Voight looked like when he got angry, but Will couldn't bring himself to care. His baby brother had been tortured – he finally let himself use the word he'd been mentally suppressing for the last thirty minutes – and he was angry.

  
  


Voight let the breath out in a long sigh, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. 'Yes, Will, you're right.'

  
  


'I don't care what you- wait what?' Will interrupted himself. He'd just assumed Voight's response would be to defend his actions; to tell Will police business was none of _his_ business. 'Did you just say I'm right?'

  
  


Voight chuckled shortly and nodded. 'Yes, I did. I make it a policy to not deal with family members when I have an officer missing.' Missing? Will felt a spike of misplaced panic – Jay was upstairs, he was fine. 'My priority is to get them back. But you aren't exactly a civilian and I could have called you in on it. I'm sorry.' He held out a hand and Will shook it on instinct. His mind was still trying to process the fact that Hank Voight - _the Hank Voight_ \- had just apologised to him.

  
  


'I- ah-' Will was struggling to pull up an appropriate reaction, but then what Voight had said before came back to the forefront of his mind. 'Wait, you said missing – Hank, tell me what actually happened.'

  
  


Voight looked like he wasn't sure that was a good idea, but then nodded, gesturing to the doctor's lounge door behind them. 'Fine, I'll give you the highlights, but not out here.'

  
  


As soon as they entered the lounge, which was empty, Erin broke off and eased herself down onto the couch, groaning very slightly and dropping her head into her hands. Both Will and Voight shot her concerned glances but didn't say anything. Instead Will nodded for Voight to start.

  
  


'It was an undercover gone wrong.' Voight spoke matter of factly, very little emotion in his voice and Will tried to reign in his own feelings. This was Jay's job, like it or not. 'Our guy on the inside panicked and by the time we got to their location he was dead and Jay was gone. That was yesterday afternoon.'

  
  


'Yesterday-?' Will couldn't stop himself interrupting. 'He's been missing for a full day?!'

  
  


Voight held up his hand and Will snapped his mouth shut. 'We got a video with proof of life, and then a phone call with demands. We couldn't give up what they wanted, even for Jay, so Erin went to the exchange and we got him back.'

  
  


Will glanced at Erin again – she hadn't moved from her bent over position on the couch. 'What did they want?' Will asked, turning back to Voight, who looked like he was about to argue. 'I'm not asking for any more details, I know you can't tell me everything. But tell me that – tell me what was more valuable than Jay's safety.'

  
  


Voight frowned at him, but he did answer. 'They wanted our CI files, all of them. We would have been compromising the safety of hundreds of people; good people who help us do our job at personal risk to themselves, and their families.'

  
  


'I see.' And the annoying thing was he totally did. Even he couldn't argue with that; there was no way they could have given over that information. Voight hadn't had a choice there. This time it was Will who held out his hand, the sergeant shaking it with a slightly bemused expression. 'Thank you for getting him back, Hank.'

  
  


Voight nodded once, decisively. 'I'll always get him back, Will.'

  
  


They were interrupted by the door opening and Ethan sticking his head in. 'There you are,' he said to Will, coming further into the room, nodding to Voight and glancing at Erin, who had finally looked up. 'Jay's CT came back clear and he's being moved upstairs to a room.' He held up a hand to forestall Will's inevitable questioning. 'His EKG was normal as well and I've done a full work up – he's got a mild concussion, three hairline fractures on his ribs, a sprained wrist and the impressive collection of cuts and bruises you already saw. All of it will heal up just fine. I'm keeping him overnight for observation and then he should be good to go home tomorrow morning. He'll be a week off work-' That was directed at Voight who nodded in agreement- 'And he'll need a little longer than that for the ribs, but he should be back to fighting fit pretty soon.' Ethan gestured outside. 'He's being moved to Room 8 on the Landon Wing. He's pretty exhausted, might be asleep already.'

  
  


Voight held out a hand, shaking Ethan's. 'That's okay, doc, I spoke to him earlier, I won't disturb him now.' He clapped Will on the shoulder and beckoned to Erin. 'We'll check in on him tomorrow morning before he gets released – you can tell him that Will, when you see him. Come on Erin, I'll drive you home.' Erin followed him silently but she did squeeze Will's arm on the way out, with a nod to Ethan.

  
  


Ethan zeroed in on Will as soon as they were alone. 'You okay, man? Jay will be fine but I can't imagine it was easy, seeing him like that?'

  
  


Will was busy letting out a long sigh and running his hands through his hair, even though he knew it made it stick up on end. Still he smiled at Ethan. 'I'm okay, thanks. My policy for dealing with this kind of stuff is to just be glad Jay's alright and then try not to think about it too much after that. He's been a cop for a long time, I can't spend all day, everyday worrying about him.' It was sort of a lie, but it was a sort-of lie Will told himself all the time...

  
  


Ethan nodded, returning the smile. 'Doesn't seem like a bad plan, if you ask me.' Then he stepped to the side, gesturing to the door. 'Go up and see him. He was half asleep but he did ask me to find you. And your shift ended ten minutes ago.'

  
  


So it had, Will realised, as he glanced at his watch. He'd been on the early shift that morning. 'Yeah, I will. You said room 8?' Ethan nodded, heading for the door. 'Thanks for looking after him, man, I appreciate it.'

  
  


Jay looked like he was already asleep but his eyes opened as soon as Will stepped over the threshold. Well, the one eye not swollen shut opened, and that only at half mast. Still he was focused as Will made his way over to the bed, pulling a chair close and settling himself into it.

  
  


'Erin?'

  
  


Will smiled at his one track mind. 'She's fine,' he assured, watching Jay relax just a little more into the pillows. 'A couple of cuts and bruises, and she's going to be horse for a few days, but nothing worse than that.'

  
  


Jay had refocused on the ceiling, nodding his head gently. 'Good, that's good. Thanks.'

  
  


'No problem.' Will resisted the urge to touch Jay in some way. He was a little more shaken than he'd admit and he would have liked the physical comfort. But Jay didn't look all that open to it, so Will settled for just staring instead. 'What about you – how are you feeling?'

  
  


'Fine.' Jay grinned a little as Will scoffed in disbelief. 'Okay, I'm sore, and tired, but I'm alright. I'm alive.'

  
  


'Yeah.' Will suddenly needed to look at the floor instead. 'Yeah, you are.'

  
  


He heard Jay sigh but only looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. 'Hey,' Jay squeezed a little and then let his hand drop back onto the bed, 'I know it was a bit of a shock, I'm sorry. But I'll be fine, it was just the job.'

  
  


'Yeah.' Even Will could hear the bitterness in his voice. 'The job. Some days it's getting shot at, today it was torture.' Jay twitched very slightly at the word and Will suddenly felt bad for making it about him and his feelings. He blew out a long breath and tried to smile. 'Ignore me, Jay, I'm sorry. You're right – it was a shock but you're alive, that's what matters.'

  
  


'Yeah, alive and fine.' The way Jay said 'fine' put a lot of weight on the word. But the point he was making was ruined by a huge yawn, making him wince as it pulled on his split lip and bruised face.

  
  


It brought a more genuine smile to Will's face. 'You should be sleeping, you look done in.'

  
  


'Yeah,' Jay agreed, scrubbing fingers into his not swollen eye, 'I'm beat – don't even know how many hours I've been awake now.'

  
  


It was a throw away comment, as Jay yawned loudly again, but it made Will freeze in his chair. He hadn't really thought about that – Jay had been missing all night. Which meant that while Intelligence was looking for him Jay had spent hours somewhere, presumably tied up, maybe being hurt over and over again...

  
  


'Hey. Hey!' Jay's voice cut through the thoughts. 'Seriously, stop thinking about it. It's fine.'

  
  


'I didn't even know you were missing. No one told me.' It was eating at Will, even though he understood what Voight had said, even though he knew he couldn't have done anything. Jay had been somewhere, alone, hurting, and Will had been at home asleep, blissfully unaware. It made him feel a little sick to his stomach.

  
  


'That's Voight's way, man.' Jay was looking at him like he was seeing a little more than Will might have wanted. 'And what good would it have done if he'd called you? What could you have done? Hours of worrying and we still would have ended up here.' He gestured limply to the room around them. 'Voight made the best decisions he could. And the team got me out.'

  
  


'Yeah, I know. Hank explained it to me.'

  
  


One slightly bloody eyebrow rose. 'Voight told you what happened? Why?'

  
  


Will couldn't help the slightly sheepish expression he knew was on his face and reached up a hand to pick at the edge of Jay's blanket. 'I was kind of upset when I realised how old your injuries were. There may have been some shouting involved.' It hadn't really escalated. Much.

  
  


'You shouted at-' Jay cut himself off, a groan rattling through his throat as he flopped his head back into the pillow. 'Will, what the hell! Do you have a death wish?'

  
  


'Oh don't be so dramatic.' Will grinned as Jay gave him a wide-eyed look. 'Hank apologised for not telling me sooner. And he explained what happened, or at least the basics of it.'

  
  


'You're unbelievable.' Jay dropped his head back again and winced a little, despite the softness of the pillow.

  
  


'Stop doing that.' Will ordered, ignoring the glare he got for it. 'You have a concussion.' He watched the glare turn into yet another yawn. 'And enough talking, you need to go to sleep.'

  
  


'Yes Sir.' Jay threw a lazy and sarcastic salute, but his voice was soft and he was clearly starting to shut down. Will watched him shift a little, settling his many bruises, and then frown. His good eye landed on Will. 'You should go.'

  
  


'I can stay-'

  
  


'And watch me sleep?' Jay grinned a little. 'No thanks creeper. The guys will have gone to Mollys – go and tell them I'm okay, they'll want to hear it from you.'

  
  


Will had been thinking he could use a stiff drink. 'Yeah, I suppose I can do that, if you're sure?'

  
  


'I'm sure,' Jay confirmed, but then frowned again. 'But before you go, can you do me a favour?'

  
  


Will was already up from his chair, but he paused in pushing it away. 'Yeah, of course, anything.' He regretted it the second he said it, because Jay got a very slightly smug look on his face at the word 'anything'.

  
  


'Take this thing out.' Jay flopped his left hand, where an IV was connected to a saline drip. 'Please Will,' he continued, as Will instantly started to protest. 'I want to sleep and it's hard enough in here without this thing pulling every time I move.' If he'd been less run down he probably would have hidden the shudder better. Jay hated needles, always had.

  
  


'You're dehydrated, Jay, that's what it's for.' Will may have had a quick look at Jay's file on the way up to the room – so sue him. 'And if you think you'll have trouble sleeping I can get you something for that.'

  
  


'No drugs.' Jay's voice was strong but he looked upset. 'Most of the bag is gone already.' It was true, most of the saline had already made it's way down the line. 'And I have a full jug of water right here – I'll drink every drop of it. Come on-' His voice took on a very slight whine that only happened when he was hurt and exhausted- 'I'm not even complaining about staying here. Just take it out.'

  
  


Will could feel himself caving. Jay looked younger when he was half asleep and lying down. It was so rare these days to see him anything less than full alert... 'Yeah, okay, I'll do it, give me a sec.' He had to grab the supplies from the nurses' station and he could see the night nurse eyeing him suspiciously. Rather than explaining what he was doing – because she wouldn't agree – he just smiled blandly at her and went back to Jay's room.

  
  


Jay pointedly looked the other way as Will gloved up, prepped a plaster and disconnected the saline. 'You realise if your vitals drop during the night they're going to have to redo this?' He said it just as he slid the needle out, dropping it in the sharps bin and pressing down with a cotton bud as Jay turned back to him.

  
  


'They won't.' Jay spoke with all the confidence of someone with no medical training, but sighed happily as Will secured the plaster across the back of his hand. 'Thanks man.' He rubbed at it and grinned sleepily when Will pushed his other hand away.

  
  


'Stop messing with it and go to sleep.' Jay's eyes were already closing even as he spoke. Will indulged in pulling the blanket a little higher up Jay's chest and squeezing his shoulder very gently as his brother's breathing evened out. He was out before Will even made it to the door.


	10. No You Shut Up!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is an episode tag to the time Owen hit Will with a tonka car and Will had an existential crisis that Nat's toddler hated him, and decided to fix it by buying him a very expensive toy. Will had sold his car by then, so how did he get that giant ride-on to Nat's house? Well that's what brothers are for...
> 
> Note, this chapter contains an overuse of the phrase 'shut up' but as the youngest of four siblings myself I claim it as accurate :-)

Jay was laughing. He had started when Will called him to ask for a ride. He had still been laughing when he pulled up in front of the hospital. And now he was chuckling away behind Will as they walked down the brightly lit aisles.

‘Seriously, will you shut the hell up?’ Will finally snapped, earning him a death glare from a woman shopping with her two young girls. That only made Jay laugh harder. ‘I regret telling you anything about this,’ Will told him, slowing his walk so he could punch Jay in the arm.

‘Careful bro,’ Jay warned him, still grinning widely, ‘You already lost a fight with a toddler today, do you want to add your little brother to that list?’

‘Ha ha,’ Will muttered sarcastically, ‘You’re hilarious.’ He stopped at a display of pre-school toys; a confusing arrangement of colours, shapes and something producing noise. ‘What do you think he’d like?’ Jay had instantly reached for a large flat toy made of interlocking cogs. The whole board moved when one was twisted and Jay seemed much more interested in it than in listening to Will. ‘Do you want me to buy you a toy too, Jay?’ Will joked, ‘Because I’m not sure you’ve been well enough behaved to earn one.’

‘What?’ Jay’s head popped up from the gadget, frowning as Will laughed heartily at him. ‘Shut up,’ he shot back, finally catching up. ‘And,’ he pointed out, ‘We’re here because you’re rewarding bad behaviour, remember?’

‘I’m not!’ Will protested, even though it was absolutely true and he knew it. ‘I just…’ he trailed off, defeated as he stared at some sort of talking dog. ‘I need him to like me, Jay.’

‘Will.’ Rather than sympathetic Jay just sounded exasperated. ‘He’s a toddler who threw a brick at you - that’s what toddlers do. It doesn’t mean he hates you, it doesn’t even mean he doesn’t like you. Have you considered the possibility that he just wanted to play with you, and that was his idea of a joke?’

The truth was Will knew he was over-reacting. He knew Nat would laugh at him when he showed up with some new toy to try and bribe her two year old. But he also knew that he’d wasted a whole lot of time already when it came to Natalie, and he wasn’t going to screw up with the most important person in her life. Owen was the lynch pin of any relationship with Natalie having a future. And he wanted a future with her. A ring, a wedding, little brothers and sisters for Owen… Jay was rolling his eyes when Will came back from that thought.

‘Okay, okay.’ Jay held up his hands in surrender of his point. He eyed the toys in front of him with a more critical air and then shook his head. ‘No, none of these. Where are the cars? Little boys like cars.’

‘Wow, man,’ Will laughed, following as Jay made his way confidently down a different aisle, ‘Way to stereotype there.’

Jay just grinned back at him. ‘Using my superior detective skills,’ he joked, ‘I can ascertain that little boys who like to give people black eyes are also the kind who like cars.’

  
  


‘You realise you’re describing yourself, right?’ Will pointed out, as Jay brought them to a halt in front of a display of large monster trucks. ‘You were the little boy who gave people black eyes and liked cars.’

‘I didn’t get into that many fights, geez.’ Jay held up a yellow dump truck bigger than his head. ‘How about this?’ But before Will could even answer Jay spotted something behind him, his eyes widening in delight. He dropped the truck and pushed past Will to get to the back wall of the shop, where racks of large ride-on vehicles were displayed. Jay, predictably, made straight for the police cruiser. ‘Will, man, this is what you want - how could a kid not love someone who bought them this?!’

Will, not sure if Jay was trying to mess with him or was genuinely just this enthusiastic about children’s toys, raised an eyebrow, arms folded across his chest. ‘Why would I buy him a cop car, Jay? His mother’s a doctor. I’m a doctor.’

Jay was playing with the flashing blue bubble light on the hood, but looked up, mockingly offended. ‘Kids love cops, man, you know this. And just because his mom and his mom’s neurotic boyfriend are doctors, doesn’t mean he’ll want to be. Maybe he’ll want to be a cop like his Uncle Jay, hmm?’ Jay gestured to himself, grinning.

Will didn’t respond to that. Not because he wasn’t willing to tease his brother back, but because he’d gotten distracted by ‘Uncle Jay’ - thrown out there like it was just a part of the world they lived in. Like it was an inevitability that Owen would be growing up with that in his life. A future.

‘Are you a powice man?’ The voice distracted both men, emitting (lisp and all) from behind Jay’s knees. The little boy had a mop of dark curls and was staring up at Jay with wide-eyed admiration.

Jay just smiled gently as he knelt down to the boy’s level. ‘I sure am, buddy. I’m a detective.’ He held up the badge that was still dangling from his neck.

‘Wow!’ The little boy’s eyes got even wider and Jay chuckled.

‘I’m sorry-’ A woman, clearly the boy’s mother by the matching curls, hurried up behind him, eyeing Jay’s badge- ‘Matty’s obsessed with the police. I hope he’s not bothering you.’ 

‘Not at all,’ Jay assured her even as Matty asked ‘Do you catch bad guys?’ over him. Jay nodded, still smiling. ‘I do catch bad guys, yeah. Do you want to be a police man when you’re older?’ He got an enthusiastic nod to the question. ‘I bet you’ll be awesome at it. In fact-‘ Jay dug around in the pocket of his coat and pulled out a CPD sticker- ‘Why don’t you take this for now, until you can trade it in for a real badge, hmm?’

  
  


Matty's eyes got even bigger as he reached out for the sticker, holding it like it was made of gold. 'Reawwy?' he asked, like he wasn't sure.

Jay laughed again, nodding. 'Yeah, really. You take that and keep working hard, and you'll be a police man in no time.'

'Thanks!' The boy turned back to his mother, practically bouncing with excitement. 'Mommy, look! Look what the powice man gave me!'

She mouthed a thank you to Jay as well, as she led Matty away, smiling down at his enthusiasm. When Jay stood back up Will tried to school his features, but Jay knew him well.

'For God's sake, Will,' was all his brother said, throwing his hands up, 'Owen doesn't hate you. Calm down!'

'Shut up, it's fine!' Will turned back to the cars, ignoring the stab of jealously – Jay had always been good with kids. Will interacted with kids a lot on the job, but he wasn't a natural. They didn't gravitate to him.

'Okay, what about this one?' Will looked up to find Jay had moved down the line to a red roadster style ride-on. 'This is cool. And not a cruiser.'

'Red's Owen's favourite colour...' Will lifted the car down to have a look at it. It was very cool, and just the right size for Owen now. It was also pricey, but Will had already resigned himself to the stupidity of what he was doing, so why stop now? 'Yeah, this is good, I'll get this.'

Jay just rolled his eyes, back to laughing at him. 'Okay, sure, come on then; it'll fit in the back of car and I'll drop you off.'


	11. At Day's End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this one is just a little filler, to tide you over while I work up a few more chapters. I'm working hard on everyone's requests - I want to finish them all and then post them one after another. But I have a bit to go before they're all done. 
> 
> This is just an episode tag to the Med episode where Nat got a concussion in a drive-by at the hospital and she and Will treated that fifteen year old who was married to that 'pastor'. Because that was a tough episode on Will and I thought he deserved someone to talk to about it. But then this ended up more with him just being cute with Owen, so there's that....

Will opened the door already knowing who was behind it. Jay nodded his head in greeting, taking off his jacket as Will moved out of the way for him to come into Natalie's condo.

'Hey man,' Will greeted, taking the jacket to put away. 'Sorry about the change in venue.' They had planned to meet at Jay's to watch the game but now Will was needed here.

Jay just waved off his apology, leading the way into the kitchen/living area. 'It's no problem at all, man. How's Nat doing?'

'She's going to be fine, but she's staying in overnight for observation, just to be on the safe side. She passed out in front of me, Jay, freaked me out.'

'But she's going to be okay.' Jay patted his brother on the shoulder as the sound of a little voice making car noises filtered through the space. Owen was on the living room rug, a truck in each hand, making them bang into each other. He looked up as Jay made his way over. 'Hey, little man, you causing a car crash over here?' Jay asked, kneeling down. He didn't spend a lot of time with Owen but he hung out with Will enough for the toddler to know him, and to know he was good for Owen's favourite activity – being thrown into the air.

Sure enough, as soon as Owen recognised him little arms went up, a wide smile across his face and eyes wide with pleading. Jay just chuckled, gladly raising them both up, putting enough force into his lift to throw Owen a good foot above him and catching him securely as the toddler squealed in delight.

Will's voice sounded almost immediately. 'Jay, don't excite him too much, bath and bed are in five minutes.'

Owen giggled as Jay pouted exaggeratedly and then tossed him again. But he did put him down after that, much to Owen's displeasure.

'Hey, hey, no pouty face.' Will dropped two beers on the coffee table and scooped the toddler up onto his own hip. 'Did I or did I not promise a story with voices if someone went to bed without a fuss?' A nod and a giggle as Will used his free hand to tickle Owen under the arm. 'Exactly – no going back on the deal, buddy, we shook on it.' He turned to Jay. 'There's snacks in the cupboard over the fridge. Stick on the pre-game, I'll be a little while. Say goodnight to Jay, Owen.'

A little hand waved uncoordinatedly in Jay's direction. 'Nighty 'ay.' Owen was still a little young to have quite mastered the 'j' sound and so 'ay' it was.

'Night, little man.' Jay waved back as Will made for the main bathroom. Jay did as he had been instructed, pulling out a bag of chips and a pack of Twizzlers (Will's favourite) and switching the TV to the pre-game. The sound of splashing, laughing and the occasional 'quack quack' came from the bathroom. After about twenty minutes the door opened and Jay could hear Will moving into Owen's room, instructing him to pick out a book. At this point Jay put the TV on mute. The pre-game wasn't nearly as interesting as listening to his brother read a story 'with voices' – whatever that meant.

He was not disappointed. Will had always been musical and had the voice to go with it. Still, Jay had never been treated to anything quite like 'The Hungry Caterpillar' read in a multitude of silly tones – from as low a baritone as Will could manage right up to what would have been a passable impression of Natalie. When the book was over and Will had finished saying goodnight, leaving the door ajar, he came back to the living room to find Jay grinning widely at him from the couch.

'Shut up.' Jay just cackled as Will grabbed his beer and flopped on the couch next to him. 'Man, I'm glad this day is over.' He took a long swig of his beer and sighed deeply.

Jay eyed him – the tiredness and worry were evident in his posture. 'Nat's going to be okay, Will. Were you outside during the shooting?' Jay had heard about it on the scanner and immediately texted Will, but his brother had been quick to come back and say it was all fine.

'No, no.' Will shook his head, running a hand through his hair. 'That was the start of the day, and Nat collapsing was the end. But then in-between we had the shittiest case imaginable. I'm just glad it's all over, finally.'

'Wanna talk about it?' Will never gave specifics, of course, but he often went over bad cases with Jay. In fact, Jay did it with Will as well. While their jobs were different they did both boil down to dealing with people at their worst - whether it be sick, hurt or up to no good - so they were each a good sympathetic ear for the other.

Will sighed again. 'It was just so damn frustrating!' He put down his beer, turning to Jay. 'This guy came in – about 50 years old – with a teenage girl who was having severe abdominal pain.' Jay tensed – cops were trained to expect the worst, so this wasn't a good start to a story. 'And he told us she'd had a miscarriage. So we start working her up and ask him to wait outside. We told him we'd take good care of his daughter and this- this sleezebag corrects us and says she's his wife.'

'What?!' Jay's hand clenched into a fist and Will nodded, frowning deeply.

'She's fifteen, Jay. A child. And this creep married her, got her pregnant twice - almost killing her in the process - and acted like it was completely normal. Got mad at us for _judging him_.'

'You called the cops, right? What district was he taken too?' Jay was thinking about paying this guy a visit, if he was being honest. He wasn't expecting Will to shake his head, a noise of frustration deep in his throat.

'That's the problem – the lawyers looked into it and the damn thing is legal. 'Religious freedom'. Her parents, no doubt also brainwashed cultists, gave their consent. So the marriage stands.'

'No.' Jay shook his head, getting angrier by the second. 'No way. She's not even sixteen, there's no way that stands. That's statutory rape, bogus marriage or not!'

Will just shook his head again, leaning forward to stare unseeingly at the wall. 'Believe me we looked into every angle, disgustingly it's legal. I mean we got her the help she needed, and convinced her to stand up him. And now he's going to excommunicate her because she can't give him children any more, which I guess is better than the alternative. But where does that leave her now – into foster care? Permanently traumatised and with no one to look out for her?' Another deep sigh, but this one was more like he was letting go. He glanced at Jay, the slightest smile at the corner of his mouth. 'Sometimes I wish my job let me carry a gun too.'

Jay tried to smile back. 'Yeah, I hear ya on that one.' In his mind he was making a note to look more into this 'legal marriage' thing tomorrow morning. For now he patted Will on the back, turning the sound back on the TV. The game had already started. 'But look, it sounds like you did everything you could for her, given the situation. At least you helped, someone else might not have bothered.'

'Yeah.' Will picked back up his beer and leaned against the cushions again. 'You're right. It just doesn't always feel like enough.'

They watched the game in silence for a little while before some movement to their left caught Jay's eye. 'You okay buddy?' he asked, drawing Will's attention to Owen, who was peeping around the corner of the corridor.

'Owen?' Will was up and over, the toddler up on his hip in a second. 'What are you up to, hmm? You know you're supposed to stay in bed once the light's out.'

'Mommy?' Owen asked, hands around Will's neck.

'Mommy's working, buddy, you know that. She'll be back tomorrow morning and you have the whole day with her.' Will ran a hand up and down Owen's back, but the toddler didn't seem all that happy with the answer.

'Why doesn't he sit with us and watch some of the game, hmm?' Jay watched Owen's eyes light up at the suggestion, an enthusiastic nod practically shaking his whole body.

Will looked unsure, glancing back to the bedroom, but in the end he caved. 'Alright, alright.' He adjusted his grip so he could settle back on the couch with Owen comfortably in his lap. 'Your mommy's gonna be mad at me if she finds out but I guess ten minutes won't make a difference. But then you're going to bed, buster – deal?' He mock frowned as Owen nodded with matching severity, before happily snuggling into Will's arms.

Jay just chuckled as he leaned forward, snagging Will's beer and passing it off to Will's one free hand, the other on Owen's back. 'Ten minutes will be plenty.' Sure enough five minutes later Owen was sound asleep.

'It looks good on you, man.' Jay grinned as Will frowned at him in confusion. He gestured to the toddler passed out in his brother's arms, one little cheek smooshed against Will's shoulder. 'This – _fatherhood_.'

Will got that goofy look in his face as he ran a hand up and down Owen's back. 'Well, I wouldn't use that word,' he demurred, 'but he's a pretty great kid, makes it kind of easy.'

Jay nodded, still smiling. 'Yeah, he is pretty great.'


	12. That's What You Get

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So as promised I'm starting on posting the requests I have piled up. Full disclosure, this is the only one actually finished right now, but the others are all under way, most of them almost complete, and I was conscious that it's been a good while since I posted. This is the busiest time in work for me (pre-Christmas, which starts in August for us) so I'm doing the best I can with writing. 
> 
> To the person who requested 'That's what you get for hurting my brother'....I'm not sure this is what you had in mind but this is what my mind decided on. I hope you like it anyway, it was a lot of fun to write :-)

Jay heard the door open and close but nothing more. Poking his head around the kitchen wall revealed his brother, facing away with his coat still on, gently banging his forehead against the closed door. It would have been funny if it wasn't a little concerning.

‘You okay?’ Jay watched Will jump, banging his head a little harder than he meant to.

‘Hey, man.’ The doctor was obviously going for casual, rubbing at his sore head and giving Jay a pathetic attempt at an enthusiastic smile. ‘I wasn’t expecting you to be home. Quiet day?’

‘Yeah, it was.’ Jay watched as Will dropped his jacket on an arm chair, instead of on the perfectly good coat stand in the hall. ‘I’m guessing yours wasn’t?’

Will all but collapsed onto the couch, sighing and running his hands through his hair. ‘It’s fine. Just an admin change I could have done without, that’s all.’

‘Admin change?’ Jay frowned. He had no idea what that meant. It didn’t sound very serious but it was obviously bothering Will. ‘Come on, man, spit it out - what’s happened?’

Will sighed again but his smile was a little more genuine when he looked up. ‘The board decided Miss Goodwin had enough to do running the whole hospital and that the ED needed its own manager.’

‘Okay, new boss - that’s annoying,’ Jay agreed. ‘But you lot are easily the most trouble in that hospital.’ The joke got a chuckle.

‘The most hard-worked you mean,’ Will responded. ‘But yeah, that’s fine, it’s just a part of the job. But they’ve hired this guy; his name’s Mark Percy.’

‘And?’

‘And-‘ Will eyed him. ‘This stays between us.’ Jay nodded easily. ‘He and I were in pre-med together.’

Jay creased his eyebrows together. Goodwin had been a head nurse before she took the role she had now. But if this guy had been in college with Will then he was too young to have moved up into admin. ‘He’s a doctor?’

Will shook his head. ‘No, that’s the problem; he flunked out, final year.’

Ah, thought Jay, that made a bit more sense. ‘And I’m guessing he wasn’t delighted to see you working at Med?’

‘Just the opposite,’ Will groaned softly. ‘I think he was delighted to realise he’s now in charge of me.’ Will glanced up, a little sheepishly. ‘We didn’t get on all that well, in college.’

Jay laughed heartily, flopping onto the couch and knocking Will a little sideways. ‘My brother?’ he exclaimed, mockingly. ‘Not getting on with someone? I don’t believe it for a second!’

‘Alright, asshole.’ Will laughed properly too, punching Jay in the arm. ‘You wouldn’t have liked him either. He’s a true-blue New Yorker and he thinks Chicago is a crime-ridden hellscape. In fact,’ Will pondered, over Jay’s noise of outrage, ‘the real question is why did he take this job at all?’

‘Chicago is the best city in the world!’ Jay half-shouted over him but Will just leveled him a look. ‘Well,’ Jay conceded, grinning widely, ‘it’s the best crime-ridden, hellscape of a city in the world.’

‘I don’t disagree,’ Will chuckled. He slapped his hands on his knees and pulled himself to his feet. ‘Anyway, it’ll be fine, I’m sure. What’s for dinner?’

Except it wasn’t fine. Jay worked long hours, so did Will, so even though they lived together they didn’t see each other all that much. Despite that Jay could see the difference. Over the next month or two Will started working even longer hours, often nights. He was tired all the time and didn’t talk about work, even when Jay asked. He still came out for drinks, the odd time he was free, he still took an interest in Jay’s work and asked about friends. But it was obvious he was being worn down, little by little.

It was just bad enough to worry Jay but Will brushed it off. The hospital was busy - the summer heat always meant more trouble, and more trouble meant more casualties. Jay was in and out of Med on cases, and he never saw anything too bad. He never actually met Percy, who seemed to prefer to keep to his office, but the overall atmosphere of the ED, while maybe not as relaxed as it had been, wasn’t terrible either. Will could handle himself, Jay knew it. So he kept an eye on him but left him to it.

Will’s colleagues had also noticed something was up. Percy hadn’t made himself particularly popular with anyone - day one he’d tried to undermine Maggie’s authority and that had set the tone with the close-knit ED crew - but anyone could see Will was his favourite target for unnecessary scrutiny.

‘Seriously,’ Ethan asked one day, after Percy had chewed Will out over some misfiled reports, ‘did you run over his dog once or something?’

‘Sleep with wife?’ Connor asked, only half-joking.

‘You shouldn’t let him speak to you like that, Will,’ Maggie had said. ‘He’s an admin manager, not a doctor. Hierarchy or not he should show respect, especially out on the floor, where patients can see.’

‘It’s fine,’ Will had assured them all, just trying to put it all behind him. ‘Leave it be.’ 

Percy had been working in Med for about nine weeks when the Chicago humidity finally erupted into an all-out gang war. Jay was barely getting home any more and Will had taken to sleeping in the on call room most nights - being scheduled on so many back to backs that there was no point in driving home.

Violence on the streets increased the chances of violence in the ED, although the EMTs and police worked together to do their best to send rival gangs to different hospitals. But sometimes it was internal struggles, or family against members, or leaders against followers. Percy, hailing from the nicer side of Manhattan, refused the budget request to double security and so by the end of three days every member of staff was sporting some assortment of bruises. CPD were in and out regularly and did their best to help with crowd control, and the security they did have were working every second they could, but it was a disaster waiting to happen.

A disaster that happened when the terminally overworked first responders of the city inevitably slipped up and brought two victims from two different gangs into the ED at the same time. When ‘next of kin’ arrived the waiting room turned into a stand-off. Security only managed to get the civilians corralled behind them just before guns were pulled. It was left to Will and Ethan to try some quick talking, shouting over the threats being hurled to try and convince both sides that cutting out before the police arrived was the best choice here. It was obvious from the side eyeing going on that most of them were convinced but as always there was one instigator who didn’t care for anything but getting to hurt someone. Unfortunately he was standing right in front of Will. It could have been worse but still his handgun smashing into the side of Will’s head, crumpling him instantly to the ground, wasn’t ideal. Ethan had the guy disarmed and on the ground himself in a second, yelling loudly for everyone else to run. They did.

Security got the guy into zipties and took the gun from Ethan, who turned quickly to his friend. But by then Will was already picking himself up, unsteadily, and Percy was hurrying through the doors, cutting a wide circle around the loudly protesting gang member.

‘What the hell happened?!’ he hissed, taking in the scared civilians, messed furniture and Will leaning on Ethan’s arm.

‘The inevitable,’ Ethan answered, angry and struggling with the adrenaline high. ‘Now move, I need to get Will onto a bed.’

‘No, Ethan, I’m fine.’ Will was quick to protest, pulling away from his colleague’s arm and standing straight. His vision blurred for a second but then cleared. There was just a dull throb where he’d been hit but nothing else. ‘I’m fine,’ he said again, because Ethan was ignoring him and still trying to shuffle him towards the ED doors.

‘He says he’s fine, Choi.’ Percy’s voice cut across them both. ‘You both have actual patients to see - get on with it. I already have to deal with this, I don’t need a full waiting room on top of it.’

‘Will could have a head injury-‘ Ethan tried to protest but Percy was having none of it, glaring at Will for good measure.

‘Halstead has a medical degree too, Choi.' The tone was unmistakably snide. 'I’m sure he can take care of himself. Get back to work, now or you can see me in my office. This place is enough of a mess without insubordination on top of it.’

‘Ethan, come on, he’s right.’ Will tried to keep the peace and pulled on Ethan’s arm. ‘I’m fine and we have patients waiting.’

Ethan glared hard at Percy but did follow Will back into the ED. Before they parted though he grabbed Will by the arm, forcing Will to look him in the eye. ‘If you start getting any concussion symptoms you find me right away. I mean it, Will. I don’t care what that- what _he_ says.’

Will just smiled, ignoring the twinge of pain above his left eye. ‘I _do_ actually have a medical degree, you know? I know what a concussion looks like. I’m fine.’ He was busy pulling out his phone to text Jay - his brother would hear about the incident on the radio and Will wanted to head him off and tell him he was all good, because if Jay couldn’t get a hold of him when he did hear he’d end up coming to Med himself.

The next two hours were spent on GSWs interspersed between the regular mayhem of a busy ED. Finally there was enough of a lull for some of the doctors and nurses to linger at the main desk for a minute.

‘Can’t it just rain?!’ April begged, looking up at the ceiling. ‘And clear some of this heat.’

‘Or perhaps,’ Connor suggested, signing his way through a pile of charts, ‘people in Chicago could start getting used to the heat - since it’s like this literally every year.’

Will made no comment. He had taken the opportunity to sit down, his head resting on his forearms, trying to calm the rhythmic pounding of blood behind his eyes. It had just been a dull throb at first, then a light headache. Now the florescent lights were hurting his eyes and the left side of his head felt hot, swollen.

‘Will?’ April asked, reaching out to run a hand up and down his back. ‘Are you okay?’ They had all heard what had happened, and even if they hadn’t a bruise was starting to appear across his temple, so it was pretty obvious.

‘Will?’ Connor this time, when he failed to answer. ‘Is it your head?’ He was already moving around the desk.

Will straightened before the other doctor could lean down. ‘I’m fine.’ He smiled but judging by April and Connor’s faces it wasn’t very convincing. ‘Really, guys. I’m just tired - I think I might be pulling a triple at this point.’

Connor frowned, still eyeing the bruise. ‘You should lie down, Will, at least. There should be an on call room free and it’s quiet enough here now, we can manage.’

But Will shook his head, regretting it and having to take a second for his vision to unblur. ‘No, thanks but I’m so behind on charting, I’ve got hours to do.’ He made it to his feet but then the world tilted alarmingly and suddenly the only thing stopping him smacking his head on the desk was Connor’s quick reflexes. Will heard someone yell ‘Gurney!’ and wondered if he should be running for that patient. Then everything went blissfully black.

Jay flashed his badge at the entry nurse, barely stopping to let the ED doors slide open. Most of the staff there knew him by now anyway, so it wasn’t like the guard was going to stop him. He only made it half way to the desk before April was pointing to his right.

‘Bay 6,’ she said, smiling reassuringly at him.

  
  


It helped reduce his anxiety a little. It went down a lot more when he got the curtain open and was greeted by Will sitting up against the pillows, looking tired and somewhat bruised but otherwise fine. Will's eyes widened when they landed on Jay and he turned indignantly to Connor, who was reading from a tablet.

  
  


'You called Jay?!' Will hissed, causing Connor to glance up. 'Seriously?!'

  
  


Connor just nodded in greeting and frowned down at his colleague, unapologetic. 'You were unconscious Will. He's your medical proxy. What if we'd needed to do surgery?'

  
  


Will just scoffed, waving his hand as Jay made his way around to his other side. 'Surgery? For a bump on the head? Don't be ridiculous.'

  
  


'Is he okay?' Jay asked, used to these two arguing with each other.

  
  


'No,' Connor immediately answered, beating Will to his 'I'm fine.'. 'He's going to be okay,' Connor was quick to add as Jay moved closer, a look of mild panic flashing across his face. 'But right now he has a Grade 2 concussion and a hairline fracture to his left temple. We've done a CT and it was clear but he'll have to stay here at least over night, and we'll need a follow up CT in four hours.'

  
  


'In other words-' Will cut in before anyone else could speak, '-I've got a mild concussion and over protective colleagues, and I'm fine.'

  
  


Connor carried on as though there had been no interruption. 'He's also exhibiting some classic concussion symptoms – lack of focus, sensitivity to light, irritability-'

  
  


'I am not-!' Will started but then got a funny look on his face. Jay didn't have time to react but Connor knew the signs well and quickly pushed a small basin under Will's mouth.

  
  


'Nausea,' he finished flatly, as Will gagged. Despite his apparent lack of interest he was gently rubbing Will's back as he finished throwing up, and guided him back against the mattress.

  
  


'Sorry.' Will sounded much more tired now, his eyes only half open.

  
  


'Nothing to be sorry for.' Connor just handed him a glass of water to rinse his mouth and then typed on the tablet for a second. 'I'm getting him a room upstairs now,' he told Jay. 'There's nothing much else to do but let the concussion get better on its own. The nurses will be waking him up every hour, but we'll get him settled first.' He tapped the tablet off Will's leg. 'I'll be in before you go up but call me if you need anything.' Then he left.

  
  


'Will, what happened?' Jay had gotten a text from his brother a few hours before, just saying that if he heard about a problem at Med it was over and everyone was fine. Then thirty minutes ago he'd gotten a call telling him Will was unconscious in the ED and could he please come down.

  
  


Will blinked a few times at him, seeming to gather his thoughts. 'There was just an incident in the waiting room,' he explained, waving one hand limply in dismissal. 'Two rival gangs turned up – I don't even know who they were – and Ethan and I had to make sure it didn't go any further than shouting insults. I took a knock but I didn't think it was that serious. Guess I was a little optimistic.' He smiled wryly but Jay frowned back.

  
  


'You told me everyone was fine and not to worry.'

  
  


Now Will frowned but in confusion. 'What? When?'

  
  


Jay took out his phone and brought up the message. 'You texted me, like two hours ago. Do you not remember sending that?' That was kind of concerning.

  
  


'Uhm, no.' Will stared at the phone but then squeezed his eyes shut and passed it quickly back to Jay. 'I don't but that's pretty normal, don't worry. I probably sent it right after I was hit – that's a bit fuzzy now.' He rubbed at his eyes and lay back again with a sigh.

  
  


'Will.' Jay couldn't keep the exasperation out of his voice. 'You're a doctor, how could you be so stupid about a head injury? More importantly,' Jay turned a quick glare out the door, not that anyone was paying attention, 'how can you be surrounded by other doctors who didn't even check you out?'

  
  


'Ethan tried,' Will defended his colleagues immediately, recognising the look in Jay's eyes. 'But I told him I was fine. And Percy ordered us right back to work anyway.'

  
  


That diverted Jay's attention. 'Percy – this new boss that's been hassling you? What the hell was he playing at? You could have had brain damage!'

  
  


'Jay,' Will protested, 'Come on. I thought I was fine. And seriously, brain damage? I can barely get you into the ED for literal broken bones.'

  
  


'Broken fingers heal just fine with some tape at home.' Jay continued before Will could launch into another argument. 'And that isn't the same as a head injury. Yeah, I'm not the greatest for getting checked out but if I get hit hard enough to fracture my skull I'm not allowed back to work until someone's seen me. He sent you back here with a Grade 2 concussion – you were treating patients and now you can't even remember texting me.'

  
  


That gave Will pause, because that had been dangerous, even if he hadn't known it at the time. But still – 'I told him I was fine, Jay, it's on me.'

  
  


'It absolutely isn't,' Jay argued back, voice getting heated. 'You weren't thinking straight, that's why the person with the head injury isn't allowed make the call. You should have been cleared before you were sent back to work – your so called boss should have made sure of it. And instead he orders you back in here without a care about it. He wouldn't have done that with anyone else and you know it.'

  
  


'Jay-' Will tried but Jay continued on.

  
  


'No, Will, I'm done just letting that slide. You've been working crazy hours, you've been miserable, and now this – he shouldn't be in charge of you if he can't be impartial.'

  
  


Will was picking at his blanket, a sure sign he was trying to hide. 'You're making it sound bigger than it is.'

  
  


'No,' Jay insisted, 'You're not making it big enough. And now look-' He gestured to Will- 'It's landed you in a hospital bed. You're damn lucky that fracture wasn't a bleed and we both know it.'

  
  


Will stopped picking at the blanket but only so he could lean back, eyes closed. He let out a breath in a long sigh and felt Jay's hand on his arm. 'I'm sorry.' Jay's voice was a lot softer. 'I shouldn't be getting mad. Are you definitely going to be okay?'

  
  


A small smile crept back onto Will's faced as he nodded his head, gently. 'Yeah.' He opened one eye to glance at Jay. 'I'll be fine. The second CT is really just overcautious. They'll monitor me through the night but I'll be good to go in the morning. It's just a concussion.'

  
  


'Okay.' Jay watched Will's eye slide shut again. 'I'll stay until you're settled upstairs and then I'll run home and get you whatever you need for the night. You can let me know what time to pick you up tomorrow.'

  
  


'You don't need to pick anything up at home. I've got a go-bag in my locker – you can just grab that.'

  
  


'A go-bag?' Jay was honestly surprised.

  
  


Will smiled again, cracking open his eyes to give Jay an amused look. 'I have a mad hours job too you know – go-bags aren't just for badass special unit cops.'

  
  


Jay made a face and then grinned widely. 'Did you just call me a badass? Oh now I know there's brain damage, I'm getting Connor back in here.' He went so far as to move a little from the bed and Will laughed as he grabbed his jacket sleeve and pulled him back.

  
  


'Ha ha ha, you're so funny.'

  
  


Jay shrugged, still grinning. 'I try. Now how about you give up trying to stay awake and take a nap until your room is ready? I'll be here.'

  
  


'You don't need to stay.' Will's voice faded out at the end of the sentence, already mostly asleep.

  
  


'Yeah, I know.' Jay glanced around and dragged the chair from the corner a little closer to the bed, pulling back out his phone. Will's breathing had evened out before Jay even sat down.

  
  


An hour later a rather grumpy Will had been woken up and moved to a private room upstairs. Jay had stopped by Will's locker on the way up and was now letting his already-half-asleep-again brother convince him he could leave.

  
  


'Seriously,' Will was saying, starting to sound a little punch drunk, 'I'm just going to sleep – as much as that evil night nurse let's me anyway. Go home, or work, or wherever you're supposed to be right now.' He was waving towards the door but his eyes were closed, so his direction was a bit off.

  
  


Jay smiled anyway, even though Will couldn't see him. 'If you're sure. Text me if you need anything – doesn't matter what. And call me tomorrow morning and let me know when I need to pick you up. Whatever time, I'll make it.'

  
  


'Yeah, 'kay.' Will was gone again and in another circumstance Jay might have been chuckling at his brother's expense as he left the room. But right now he needed his game face on.

  
  


Percy looked up at the knock on his office door. He didn't have any appointments, and he had made sure to discourage people from just showing up... 'Enter!' he called from behind his desk and the door opened immediately. In strode a man in dark jeans and a black jacket, a PD badge dangling from a chain around his neck and a gun evident on his hip as he moved to close the door behind him.

  
  


'Can I help you?' Percy asked, standing as the man approached the desk.

  
  


'I'm here about the incident in your waiting room earlier.' The guy stood with his hands hanging by his sides and his posture relaxed but there was an undeniable 'readiness' about him. Like he was taking in absolutely everything and could react at any moment. It made Percy shift a little uncomfortably.

  
  


'Of course,' he said, gesturing to an empty chair as he resumed his own seat. 'Although I'm not sure it requires an investigation. Please sit...?'

  
  


'Detective,' was all the man offered by way of a name. 'And I'm fine standing.' He glanced casually to the side, taking in the rest of the office, and then back to Percy. 'As I understand it guns were drawn and a member of your staff was seriously injured. I think that calls for at least a report.'

  
  


'The guns weren't used,' Percy was quick to point out. 'It was just the usual with those types of people, they'll pull a gun for anything. It never would have happened if the ambulances hadn't brought those two gang bangers in at the same time. They had been briefed not to but obviously someone screwed up.' It had been the police, in Percy's opinion, who had screwed up. But although he didn't have much time for them (too blue collar for him) he knew they stuck together, so he wasn't going to call it out in front of this detective.

  
  


'Hmm.' The detective shifted a little, one hand rising to rest on his hip. 'And the injured staff member?'

  
  


'It's not that serious.' Percy waved a hand, downplaying it for the benefit of keeping the officer disinterested. 'A doctor inserted himself into the situation, when really he should have left it to security, and he took a knock to the head. He's being treated and he'll be fine.'

  
  


The other hand rose to rest beside the gun. 'That would be the security team who were already stretched keeping civilians safe and maintaining order in the ED itself?' he asked. 'It seems to me you could do with a few more guards. Summer in Chicago is a pretty dangerous time.'

  
  


'Yes, I've noticed.' Percy's voice was distinctly sneering but the detective was already speaking again.

  
  


'And the doctor – was he treated immediately?'

  
  


'Immediately?' Percy asked, confused by that line of questioning.

  
  


'Yes,' the detective nodded rather patronisingly. 'Was he treated immediately after the incident?'

  
  


'Uhm, well, no.' Percy tried to pull himself back on track. 'He assured myself and another member of staff that he was fine. He later became unwell and was treated then.'

  
  


'So this doctor went back to work after his was injured?'

  
  


'Upon his insistence, yes.' The change in the detective's demeanor was subtle but it was enough to put Percy on edge.

  
  


'So this doctor was treating patients, while injured himself? A head injury which caused a concussion, as I understand it?'

  
  


Why was he so interested in this? 'He was, but as I said, no one was aware he was injured. I'm a little confused as to why-'

  
  


'That makes two of us, Mr. Percy.' The detective cut in and moved suddenly, coming around the desk and leaning back against the edge, so he was right next to Percy's chair. His hand snapped out to stop Percy rising. 'No, you're fine where you are.' He squeezed Percy's shoulder just a little but the message was clear. 'I'm confused about a few things that went down today but I think I can clear up your confusion pretty quickly.' A smile spread across the detective's face, which was far worse than the frown he'd been sporting seconds before. 'I never introduced myself, how rude of me. My name is Detective Jay Halstead, Intelligence Unit, CPD.' He didn't offer a hand to shake, instead watching just a little of the colour drain out of Percy's face.

  
  


'Halstead?' Percy's voice was low, and Jay dropped the smile.

  
  


'Yes. I think you know my brother – he works here. Although as I understand it you knew him back in your college days as well?'

  
  


Jay didn't wait for an answer. This wasn't really his thing – intimidation through subtle moves and veiled threats. He preferred to threaten people while pushing them face first against a wall. Afghanistan hadn't been much of a place for 'subtle' anything. But he did know how to play this game; even if he hadn't before he joined Intelligence he had had a front row seat to Voight's show many a time. He put his hand back on Percy's shoulder and felt the man flinch just very slightly, his eyes flickering to Jay's gun, now very visible as his jacket pulled open, and then back to Jay's eyes.

  
  


'Being a cop in Chicago isn't easy Percy, I'm sure you can appreciate that?' A shaky nod. 'Don't get me wrong, I love this city with all I have but she's a high maintenance mistress.' He glanced out the window, squeezing Percy's shoulder and feeling another flinch. 'And Summer is the worst. The heat makes everyone crazy and crazy leads to guns and guns lead to murder.' He looked back down. 'I'm very busy in the Summer, I rarely even get home. So I'm sure you can appreciate that I don't like getting called away from my job when there's so much important work to do.' He increased the pressure of his hold just a little. 'And I especially don't like getting called away because my brother is lying unconscious in a hospital bed.'

  
  


Percy was sweating now, beads across his forehead. He was realising that what he had thought was a aura of 'readiness' was actually straight up 'danger'. Someone had told him Halstead's brother was a cop, he was now remembering too late. He belonged to some crack unit that was always in trouble themselves, if the rumours were to be believed. Dodgy dealings and little regard for following the law. He swallowed hard, wishing Detective Halstead would move his hand. 'As I said, Detective, your brother assured me he was fin-'

  
  


'My brother-' Jay cut him off again, letting just a little of the anger into his voice- 'was concussed and so in no shape to assure anyone of anything. He had been hit over the head, hard enough that he's upstairs with a fracture in his skull, but you ordered him back to work without so much as a quick examination.' Jay had bumped into Ethan on the way down here. The doctor was full of apologies for not forcing the issue of Will getting seen to, but Jay had just wanted a blow by blow of what had actually gone down. Choi had also filled him in on the inadequate security staff.

  
  


'There's almost no way to diagnose someone immediately after-' Percy started explaining but Jay cut him off again.

  
  


'You know this from your years of working as a doctor, do you?' Jay cocked his head to one side. 'No, wait, that's not right. Because you flunked out of pre-med, so you actually have exactly zero expertise to make that call.'

  
  


Percy bristled a little at that. It was a sore spot and Jay had known it before he'd spoken the words. 'Detective.' Percy pushed himself back, pulling out of Jay's grip and straightening in his chair. 'While I fully understand that you're concerned for your brother this isn't a police matter and I won't listen to school yard bully tactics in my own office.'

  
  


Jay, who had dropped his hand casually to his lap when Percy moved, laughed a little. It wasn't a pleasant sound. 'God,' he chuckled, looking to the ceiling and then back to Percy, 'Will said you weren't from around here and he wasn't kidding.' Very suddenly Jay was up from his spot and looming over Percy, one hand on each arm of the chair, boxing him in. 'This isn't Madison Avenue or whatever nice New York street coughed you up. This is Chicago.' He said it like it meant something, because it did. 'Anything that ends with my brother in a hospital bed is a police matter, because it's a matter for me. And what's a matter for me is a matter for my team. And we are the police. Maybe you're used to those nice NYPD cops. They looked at your expensive suits and fancy job and treated you right for it. Chicago isn't that type of town, and we aren't those type of cops.' Percy was barely breathing now, just staring into Jay's eyes, genuinely fearing for his life. 'I got a feeling in the beginning that this job wasn't going to suit you.' Jay stopped for a moment. 'And I think we can both agree that that's what's happened. You tried it out but Chicago isn't the fit for you. Go back to New York and get a job in some high end hospital there, where you don't have to deal with gang bangers and _those types_ of people.' Jay finally stood up, smoothing out his jacket and stepping back just a tiny bit. 'I'll be back tomorrow morning to collect Will – by then your resignation letter will be on whoever's desk it needs to be on. Is that clear?'

  
  


The word 'resignation' finally got through to Percy, shaking him from his fear induced paralysis. 'Hang on,' he started, still not getting up from the chair. 'You can't be serious. I'm not quitting my job just because you say so. You have no authority here, you can't just-'

  
  


Jay was back over the chair but this time his face was inches from Percy's. 'You're really not getting it.' Jay's voice was low and dangerous, full of anger and years of violence. 'So let me tell you a completely true story – the last guy who hurt my brother ended up with a bullet through his brain, courtesy of me.'

  
  


It was obvious from the look in his eye that the story was indeed true. Percy said no more, just watched, fixed, as Jay straightened again, this time sauntering to the door, even closing it behind him. It was several long minutes before Percy moved, reaching for his keyboard. He had always hated Chicago anyway...

  
  


Jay clenched his hands into fists as he made his way down the corridor, trying to even back out his breathing. He would have dearly loved to have just punched Percy and been done with it. But contrary to what Will told people Jay didn't always loose the rag when he was angry. He was capable of control. It just wasn't what he preferred.

  
  


'Detective!'

  
  


Jay spun at the sound of Miss Goodwin's voice, as she made her way down to corridor towards him. He greeted her with a smile and she returned it.

  
  


'I was just up speaking to Will,' she started, the smile disappearing as she shook her head. 'There's no excuse for what happened here today. I've apologised to Will and I've talked to everyone involved. I'm going to have words with Mr. Percy about it now. Will should have been taken care of straight away but more importantly he and Doctor Choi should never have been in that situation at all. I wanted to assure you as well, Detective, that nothing like that will ever happen again.'

  
  


Jay smiled easily at her, glancing in the direction of Percy's office. 'Thank you, Miss Goodwin. I fully trust you to deal with the problem.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've switched the status of this to 'Complete'; not because I'm going to stop posting but because all the individual stories are complete on their own and a lot more people will see it in the Complete pile - can you tell I work in Marketing :-)


	13. The Vest Took It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this was a request for 'role reversal'. Now, I do have another idea for this, which I will write at some point, which is more true to the prompt - Jay playing doctor while Will plays cop/soldier - but this idea had been floating around in my head for a while and so it came up immediately when I read the request. So this is for now, I will write the other one at some point as well. 
> 
> I just liked the idea of Will getting a first hand experience of something Jay brushes off. And I have to say the vast majority of the requests are for Will to get hurt - you all need to take a long, hard look at yourselves :-)

Jay arrived on the scene just in time to see Will’s distinctive red hair disappearing into the building. It was only Voight’s quick reaction that held Jay back from running straight after him.

‘Stop!’ Voight’s arm was tight around his waist. ‘We don’t even know the details, don’t do something stupid.’

‘We know Will just walked into a hostage situation!’ If it had been anyone else Jay probably would have punched them to get loose. But he wasn’t completely suicidal… ‘Who’s in charge here?!’ he shouted to the wider area instead, startling several of the already edgy uniforms manning the barriers and drawing the attention of a SWAT officer.

The man was glaring when he made his way over, eyeing Voight with some familiarity but addressing Jay. ‘That would be me - Sergeant Pearson. You are?’

‘Detective Halstead.’ Jay pushed Voight’s restraining arm away. ‘And I want to know why the hell you just sent a civilian in there!’

The glare became more pronounced. ‘The perp shot a doctor, and possibly a security guard as well. We negotiated for medical aid. Dr. Halstead - your brother I assume?-’ Jay nodded- ‘Insisted on being the one to go in.’

‘Why didn’t you send in a SWAT medic?’ Jay interrupted, choosing to ignore the fact that it was clearly his brother’s own stupid heroics that had put him in there. ‘You’ve just handed him another hostage to shoot.’

‘The perp knows the doctors here and insisted he’d shoot anyone he didn’t recognise.’ Pearson then turned his attention to Voight, clearly done with the debate. ‘Voight, this is my scene, it’s nothing to do with Intelligence. And I don’t allow family members on-site. Take your man behind the barriers and let me do my job.’ With that he turned on his heel and walked away. Jay tried to follow him, to demand answers but Voight’s arm was back.

‘Don’t.’ Voight tugged him a little back, ignoring the glare Jay was now directing at him. ‘I’ll find out what’s going on but you pissing off SWAT won’t get us any info. Wait by the comm centre, I’ll fill you in as soon as I know what’s happening.’ He pushed Jay none-too-gently in the direction he’d indicated. ‘Go.’ He didn’t wait to see if Jay obeyed - the assumption was there.

Inside the ED Will was sort of wishing he’d stayed in bed that morning. But then, he’d been the one who’d insisted on coming in here, so he couldn’t really complain. Well, he could complain about the lunatic who’d gotten up this morning and decided today was the day to storm into a full ED with a loaded gun. That one wasn’t on Will. He’d been getting a coffee at the cart outside when the screaming had started. He was so programmed to emergencies that he was already running before he even realised the noise was coming from inside the ED, not out on the street. By the time he’d gotten to the doors, buffeted around by most everyone else running out, it was too late to get in. The ED staff were trained for active shooter incidents - grab as many patients as possible and get out. But there were still a lot of people inside while Will watched Ethan close and lock the ED doors, a gun pointed steadily at his head as he gave Will one long look before pulling down the blinds.

Now Will was the one with a gun pointing at his head, as he slid through the small gap of the open door. The man, Richard Keelin, kept the barrel barely a foot from Will’s temple as he watched him carefully relock the door he’d come through. When Will turned around the gun went between his eyes.

‘You a cop?’

‘I’m Dr. Halstead, Richard.’ Will tried to keep his voice as even and calm as possible. Tried to look Richard in the eye instead of staring at the gun. ‘You’ve met me before, remember?’

It took Richard a second but eventually he nodded and stepped back a little, although the gun didn’t lower. ‘Yeah. Yeah, I remember. You couldn’t help me either!’ His hand shook and Will couldn’t quite contain his flinch.

Will had only treated him twice but he was well known in the ED. Initially he’d presented with a kaleidoscope of symptoms over different days - first it was back pain, then headaches, then nausea. He’d come in with persistent ringing in his ears, blurred vision in one eye, loss of feeling in his fingers. Then it was insomnia, coughing, paranoia - that last one had been the doctor’s call, not Richard’s suggestion. He’d had every test under the sun, and then some, but nothing ever came back. At first he’d seemed like he was trying to score pain meds but then the symptoms he was describing stopped being related to pain. Dr. Charles had been called in, of course, and had suggested a mild dose of anti-psychotics. Richard had agreed to try them, along with sessions with his own therapist, and they hadn’t seen him for a month. Until he’d shown up this morning anyway. Obviously the meds hadn’t been as effective as they’d hoped…

‘We were trying to help you, Richard. But we can’t do anything like this.’

‘You didn’t!’ Richard shook the gun again. ‘You all just thought I was mad and wrote me off! But I’m not mad! I’m sick and no one will help me!’

‘Okay.’ Will raised his hands, keeping his movements slow. ‘Okay, Richard, I believe you, I believe that you’re sick. But that’s not why you asked me in here, is it?’ Will finally took his eyes off the other man to look behind him. Two of the bay doors were pulled shut, frightened looking people standing behind the glass of each. These were obviously the civilians that hadn’t managed to get out. But there was no sign of Ethan.

‘That nurse-‘ Will’s attention snapped back to Richard- ‘said he wouldn’t make it if I didn’t get a doctor. Fix him!’ He gestured the gun to the main desk and Will, after a last look at Richard, hurried around the desk.

What he found, on the floor behind the rounded table, made him gasp. One of the ED’s security guards, George, was lying sprawled out on the floor, his shirt covered in blood and a bullet hole right over his heart. Sitting next to him, leaning their backs against the desk, were April and Ethan. April, blood spread all the way up her arms, had one hand practically inside Ethan’s shoulder, as he lay, unresponsive by first glance, against her chest. Wide brown eyes met blue as she looked up.

‘Will.’ April’s voice shook. ‘Help.’ Instinctive triage made him make for George first but April shook her head before he even got down on his knees. ‘He’s gone.’ She swallowed a sob. ‘It’s Ethan - the bullet nicked an artery.’ She moved just a little as Will threw himself down next to her. ‘I’ve got my fingers on it - I couldn’t stop the bleeding.’ She was doing an admirable job of staying calm but she was clearly close to panicking.

Will reached for her first, a hand squeezing her shoulder as he tried to smile. ‘It’s okay, April, I’ve got him.’ Then he turned his attention to Ethan. The other doctor was pale, lips already white, and didn’t react to Will tapping on his cheek. ‘Ethan? Come on, buddy, give me something.’ He got a groan when he pried open an eyelid, which was better than nothing. Then Will turned his attention to the wound. He couldn’t really do much of an examination around April’s fingers, and he didn’t want to move her because if she said it was an arterial bleed then there was no doubt that it was. Instead he turned back to Richard, who was standing just outside the circle of the desk, twitching his attention from them to the civilians to the doors.

‘Richard.’ His attention went back to Will. ‘Dr. Choi is bleeding badly. He needs surgery. You have to let him go.’

The reaction was immediate and violent. ‘No!’ Richard all but screamed, gun swinging in Ethan and April’s direction, even as Will shifted a little to put himself in front of them. ‘I let you in so you could fix him. I’m not stupid, I’m not letting anyone go! You fix him or I’ll shoot you too!’ The gun jabbed forward and Will closed his eyes very briefly.

He had been hopeful, before coming in here, that maybe he could talk Richard down. He thought being a doctor who hadn’t treated him much would help. Natalie had wanted to be sent in - she’d worked on Richard several times, knew him, and thought he would be less likely to shoot her as a woman. Will had argued that if Richard was acting out of frustration with the doctors who’d treated him then Will had a better chance of convincing him that there were other options. Will’s plan had been to try to bring Richard around to the idea that what he needed was a new doctor - Will being the option available - someone who would listen to his problems and genuinely get to the bottom of them. It would have meant throwing his colleagues under the bus for a minute but it was more than worth it. But Richard was more volatile than they had expected. And Ethan was much worse off then he’d thought he would be. And there was already one dead…

‘Richard,’ Will tried one last time, ‘the bullet has cut Dr. Choi’s artery - he’s going to bleed to death if he doesn’t get surgery to close it off. I can’t do that on the floor of the ED. Please - just let April take him outside. I’ll stay, you have all these other people.’ He gestured to the bays of scared patients. ‘Just let April take him out for help, no one else will leave-‘

‘The first person who moves-’ Richard’s voice cut through the ED and there were a few soft screams from other side of the room- ‘is getting a bullet through the brain!’ As quickly as he’d lost control he quietened again, one hand rubbing against his forehead. ‘I just need to think,’ he muttered to himself. ‘If I could just think, if I could just think this would be okay. It would be-‘

‘Richard?’ Will held his breath a second as the gun swung back around. Silence would have been the better option but Ethan didn’t have that much time. ‘You still want me to help Dr. Choi right? I can’t fix him but I can help him, is that okay?’

Richard stood for a second but nodded, as though he hadn’t just threatened to kill anyone who so much as twitched. ‘Yeah, yes, that’s why you’re here. Help him, fix him. Do it.’

‘Okay.’ Will glanced around and spotted what he was looking for. ‘Is it okay if I get some supplies?’ He pointed to a cart standing near the front of the ED. ‘I just need some gauze and a suture kit. Is that okay?’ Richard eyed up the cart and then Will, looking unsure. ‘Just bandages and a needle, Richard.’ Will pushed a little harder. ‘I need to secure the artery.’ The other man eventually nodded. Will turned quickly to April and whispered ‘distract him’ before standing up slowly.

Richard watched him make his way over to the cart, opening the top drawer and rummaging around for bandages.

‘Please.’ Will heard April’s voice and glanced back to make sure Richard’s attention had shifted away from him. ‘Ethan is going to die. Please just let him get help.’

Will listened with one ear while he continued to rummage through the drawer. Richard glanced back at him once but then let himself be drawn in by April’s pleading. Will took one hand out of the drawer and pulled once, quickly, on the draw string of the nearest shade. It lifted about four inches from the bottom of the window - just enough. He moved to the next drawer down, making a show of looking for more supplies. Behind him Richard was shutting April down and Will prayed she hadn’t pushed it too far. He dropped a plastic cup to draw attention back to himself.

‘What’s taking so long?!’ Richard moved closer to Will, glancing back at April but turning his attention to the doctor.

Will continued to sort through the drawer, forcing himself to keep his back to the gun. ‘I’m just looking for a suture kit,’ he said, dropping to one knee and moving to another drawer, putting himself closer to the window.

  
  


‘Why is it taking so long?!’ Richard asked again, voice rising. He moved closer, glancing back at April but the gun half rising towards Will.

‘Just looking for the kit.’ Will could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, he could feel the adrenaline pumping through him, his heart-rate skyrocketing. Having a gun in the hands of a mad man (Dr. Charles would be very angry at him for using that term but now wasn’t the time) waving around behind your back, and not being able to turn around, not knowing exactly where it was or if you had pushed it a little too far. Will forced himself to not to turn around, to keep looking into the drawer, even as he glanced in the reflective surface of the glass panel in front of him, to see Richard moving a little closer again.

‘Stop!’ Richard moved another step closer, gun waving up and down. ‘You’re up to something, I can tell. Get away from there. Get away from it!’

‘I just need to find the kit, Richard. Just give me a second.’ Will didn’t move. Richard did, edging closer still. Almost there.

It all happened really fast after that. Richard stepped close enough, aiming to push the gun against the back of Will’s head. But he never got quite that far. As soon as he took the last step, putting himself in striking range, Will burst into action. He pivoted, lifting his weight on one foot as he spun, his left hand snapping up to swing the gun away from him, even as his right grabbed the shade behind him, tearing it from its frame as he moved. He kept turning, grappling with Richard who was trying to swing the gun back. Will just needed to move his back from the window, he just needed to turn them a little…. Two shots rang out in the almost silent ED. People screamed. April shouted Will’s name. Will and Richard both crumpled to the floor.

When Will had come back to Chicago - meeting Jay in the middle of a potential bar fight and then showing up at the apartment a few days later with a black eye - Jay had insisted on showing him some basics of self-defense. Will had resisted, strongly. He could hold his own in a fight but in general he preferred to avoid conflict - he was a doctor after all. Jay had laughed in his face.

‘Man, has New York scrambled your brains?’ Jay had asked. ‘Sure you can throw a punch at some drunk but what do you do if someone holds a gun on you?’

‘You always say-‘ Will had pointed out- ‘that if someone has a gun just give them what they want and let them leave.’

‘Yes,’ Jay agreed, starting to sound a little frustrated, ‘That’s assuming they do leave. You’re going to be working in a busy ED, Will. You’re going to get drive-by vics and domestic bust ups. I’ve gotten plenty of calls to the hospitals around here. At the very least you should know how to safely disarm someone.’

‘Jay,’ Will had poured exasperation into his tone, ‘we have security at the hospital. And the police.’ He had gestured to Jay himself. ‘I’m not planning on taking down any theoretical armed perps in the ED.’

But Jay had won out - because Will was stubborn but Jay had made it an art form. So for a few hours over the next week or two Jay had tried to teach Will some self-defense. Tried, because it turned out Will wasn’t much of a natural when it came to that sort of stuff. Or maybe he was being a bit of an ass and not treating his little brother as a seasoned instructor, even though he was. But when it became obvious that Jay wasn’t going to give up on it until he was at least partially satisfied Will put in a little more effort. He was able to disarm Jay as he held a gun to his chest, he could make a passable take down of someone holding him from behind and he knew how to evade a knife thrust.

‘You’re not the worst I’ve trained,’ Jay had joked as he picked Will up from the mat where he’d thrown him to prove a point. ‘But just do what you have to to get away and then call me in. Please.’

‘Haha.’ Will had thrown a sweaty towel at him in retaliation.

Not two seconds after the gunshots sounded the ED doors burst open, the locks snapping as SWAT poured into the space, guns raised. There was more screaming but the officers were already heading straight for Richard, training weapons on him and pulling the gun from his limp hand. A quick check of his pulse confirmed what the neat hole in his skull had already told everyone - he was dead. No one got a chance to check on the doctor lying next to him because almost as quickly as SWAT had breached they were followed up by a very pissed off looking detective.

‘Will!’ Jay threw himself on the floor, hands going straight to Will’s chest, where a hole had also appeared in Will’s scrubs. Peeking through it was Kevlar and a glint of crumpled brass. Will coughed deeply, groaning and trying to sit up on instinct even as Jay held him firmly down. ‘Don’t move, Will,’ he was saying, pushing his hand beneath the neck of the vest, double checking the integrity. ‘It didn’t go through, you’re okay, just lie still.’

Will was still coughing, trying to both push off Jay’s hands and curl around his aching chest. ‘Oh my God,’ he coughed out, his head banging against the floor a little as he let it drop. ‘That hurts so much worse than you said it did!’

Jay let out a large puff of air as he let himself relax just a tiny bit. ‘It’s okay,’ he said again, hands still resting on Will’s chest. ‘Just lie still for a second.’

‘Will?!’ Connor’s voice broke into their little bubble as the surgeon was escorted through the doors by uniforms and made a beeline for them. But Will was already shaking his head, trying again to sit up even as Jay hampered him.

‘I’m fine,’ he was coughing again. ‘Ethan, Connor - help Ethan!’ He pointed towards the desk but April was already calling for him, her voice full of fear. Connor turned immediately and hurried to them. Will wanted to follow him, make sure Ethan got into surgery straight away, make sure his friend was okay. But once he got half way up he realised he really couldn’t move yet and so he flopped back down. This time Jay stuck a hand under his head and saved him another knock. He could hear Connor yelling for a gurney and nurses. He coughed again, feeling it burn through his chest.

‘Take slower breathes Will.’ His brother’s voice was calm in among the madness around them. ‘Kevlar only stops the bullet - you might still have broken ribs. And either way you’ll have a hell of a bruise.’

Will glared up at him. ‘You always say getting shot in the vest is fine. I feel like I’ve been hit with a sledgehammer!’ Another cough, another burn.

‘It’s a lot better than getting shot without the vest,’ Jay replied. But his hands were gentle as he placed them behind Will’s shoulders. ‘Here, let me help you up. It’ll be better once I can get the vest off you.’ He took a lot of Will’s weight to stop him straining his bruised chest but between them they got Will on his feet and leaning over Jay’s arm. Connor, with Ethan loaded onto a gurney, appeared from behind the desk.

‘Connor?’ Will called, even as they started moving away.

‘I’m bringing him upstairs,’ Connor shouted over his shoulder. ‘He’ll be fine.’

Will sighed in relief and felt Jay pat him very gently on the shoulder. ‘Come on,’ his brother took a step, ‘What room has an x-ray?’

Will chuckled, wincing as he did. ‘You going all doctor on me now? You don’t even know how to turn on an x-ray machine.’ Despite the teasing he starting leading them both towards Baghdad, which had its own built in machine.

‘I’m sure I could figure it out,’ Jay argued, but then spotted someone else coming into the ED. ‘But I don’t have to - Natalie!’

Natalie hurried over when she heard him, attention focused on Will. ‘Will? Are you oka- is that a bullet hole?!’ She reached for him but he was already shaking his head.

‘It’s okay. It got stuck in the vest. I’m alright.’

‘He needs an x-ray,’ Jay filled in for him, keeping them moving. ‘He might have broken a rib.’

‘Yeah, of course.’ Natalie offered Will her arm as well and they made their way into Baghdad.

Half an hour later Will was reclined against the bed, the vest, along with his shirt, gone and a large ice pack resting against his chest. He hadn’t broken any ribs but the swelling that would soon become a bruise was already evident. Natalie had checked him over, got him settled and then gone upstairs to find out what was happening with Ethan and make sure April was okay. Jay had waited until he was sure Will wasn’t in any danger and then he’d disappeared outside to ‘get a report’. He’d been gone for about ten minutes and Will was trying to slow his heart-rate and start to actually relax when the door opened and Jay re-entered the room.

‘Hey,’ he greeted, eyeing the ice pack. ‘You still okay?’

‘Yeah.’ Will readjusted the ice pack. ‘Not looking forward to how this will feel in the morning but I’m good for now.’

Jay winced at his own memories. ‘I usually sleep with the ice pack in place, for the first night,’ he offered. ‘It helps a little.’

Will just glared at him. ‘I’m never believing you again when you tell me ‘the vest took it so it’s fine’.’

Jay just shrugged, unbothered, and pulled a stool over to perch next to the bed. ‘I was just talking to Davis - he’s the SWAT sniper. He says you did good.’

Will closed his eyes for second, replaying the double crack of gunfire. ‘If I’d done better Richard wouldn’t be dead.’

‘Hey,’ Jay’s hand squeezed around his forearm, ‘Don’t do that. Don’t try and play it out a different way. You can only do your best in the moment. It rarely works out the way you want but this was as good an outcome as we could hope for.’

‘I wanted to talk him down.’ Suddenly it was all a lot. The gun, the hostages, Ethan bleeding on the floor, April begging him to do something. ‘I tried to but Ethan needed help right away and Richard was spiraling-’ Will’s voice broke a little and he swallowed to clear it. ‘I did try though, I didn’t want for them to have to-‘ He had to stop, closing his eyes as he tried to rein in his emotions.

Jay’s free hand moved up to Will’s shoulder, rubbing up and down as he spoke quietly. ‘Will, it doesn’t always work that way. In fact, nine times out of ten it doesn’t work that way. I know on TV they love showing people being talked around, forging an emotional connection with their negotiator or whatever. But take it from someone who’s been in a lot of these situations – that almost never works. A good day is a day we limit the damage, not where there's no damage at all.'

  
  


Slightly to his horror Will realised there were tears leaking down his cheeks. He sniffed angrily and rubbed a hand hard against his face. 'I'm supposed to fix damage,' he said, knowing he sounded childish. 'That's my job.'

  
  


He was very surprised to feel the ice pack lifted from his chest and the mattress dip a little to the side. By the time he opened his eyes Jay was already pulling him up by the shoulders, carefully wrapping his arms around him. A moment of shock and then Will was hugging back, shamelessly burying his face into Jay's neck.

  
  


'You did good, Will,' Jay said softly. 'It's okay.'

  
  


It wasn't that Jay shied away from physical affection but Will wouldn't describe his brother as a 'hugger'. He was surprised when Jay didn't immediately break the contact but instead held on a long moment. What Will didn't know was that since Jay had pissed off the SWAT leader and essentially been benched no one had thought to tell him they had issued Will a vest before sending him in. So when Jay had heard two shots – knowing only one of them had come from outside – he'd run into the ED fully expecting to find Will bleeding on the ground.

  
  


After about a minute, in which time Will had gotten his breathing back under control, Jay pulled away, easing Will back onto the bed as he did. Will watched his brother shuffle a little as he stood again, uneasy with the show of affection. Will just smiled, already feeling calmer.

  
  


'Thanks.'

  
  


Jay just nodded, getting distracted by his phone beeping. He was answering the text when the door slid open and Natalie came in, a smile on her face.

  
  


'Ethan's through the surgery,' she said first, smiling wider. 'Connor said it was a simple enough repair, the bullet only grazed the artery. He didn't loose too much blood and they've moved him to recovery already – he should be fine.'

  
  


Will let out a long sigh of relief, only wincing a little. 'Thank goodness. Thanks Nat.'

  
  


'How are you feeling? Any better?' She prodded gently along the edge of bruise, wincing in sympathy as Will hissed. 'Sorry – the ice has helped a little with that swelling.'

  
  


'Yeah, it's okay. Just have to wait for it to fade.'

  
  


'Does he need to stay?' Jay asked, finally looking up from his phone.

  
  


Natalie shook her head. 'No, he's okay to go. You know the drill, Will, I won't go over it with you.'

  
  


Will smiled as he nodded. 'Yeah, think I can manage.' His scrub shirt was lying, in pieces, on the side table and he looked at Jay as he spoke. 'I've got a spare shirt in my locker-' But Natalie beat him to it.

  
  


'I know the one, I'll grab it.' She was gone before Jay could say anything so he just let her go.

  
  


'That was Voight,' he said instead, waving the phone in his hand. 'He said you can come to the district tomorrow and give your statement. I'll drive you home now.'

  
  


'My car's outside...' Will half heartedly argued, not exactly looking to drive through the stiffness and pain of his chest. He knew he was wasting his time anyway, and sure enough Jay just held up his hand and said 'Don't.' and that was that.

  
  


Twenty minutes later Will, now dressed, was wincing in the passenger seat of Jay's car, as his brother took a left turn too quickly to catch a green light.

  
  


'Sorry.' Of course Jay had noticed, even though supposedly his attention was on the road.

  
  


'We're not going to an emergency, you know?' Will teased. 'You can just drive like a normal person.'

  
  


'So boring,' Jay joked back, but did slow the car down considerably. 'How does a new ice pack, the game and pizza sound?'

  
  


Will smiled as he settled himself further back in the seat and closed his eyes. 'Sounds perfect, thanks.'


	14. A Working Holiday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know what happened here... I wanted to put up something holiday related but I didn't really plan it, I just let it ramble. It's over 5,000 words long and I'm not sure a lot happens. But maybe someone will like it? We'll return to our scheduled requests after this, promise.

‘You all set for Owen’s first Christmas, Nat?’

Natalie smiled wide as she nodded. ‘Yeah, all set. Helen went all out - the tree, the food, more presents than I know what to do with. He’s only four months - he’s going to sleep through most of it.’

Will laughed, well able to imagine what Owen’s indulgent grandmother had cooked up. ‘He won’t remember a thing but you and Helen will. It’s still special.’

‘Yeah, it is. And thanks for the present - you really didn’t have to get him anything.’

‘Not buy my best buddy something for Christmas?!’ Will put a hand over his heart, watching Natalie laugh at him. ‘Never!’

Natalie just shook her head, still chuckling. ‘You’re worse than Helen for spoiling him! What about you? Do you have any plans?’

‘Working.’ Will shrugged at Natalie’s ‘boo’ noise. ‘Someone’s got to do it, and I don’t mind being here so people with kids can be home.’

Natalie smiled at that but it soon faded into a frown. ‘I thought you and Jay might do something? This is your first Christmas back in Chicago.’

‘He’s working too.’ Will laughed. ‘Too many first responders in the one house!’

Xxxxxxxxx

‘So when is your next day off?’ Jay asked the question on Christmas morning, as Will was mainlining coffee. Jay, although not a morning person, was always annoyingly alert before work.

‘Uhhh,’ Will started, intelligently, before throwing a dishcloth at his laughing brother. ‘I get New Year’s off for working Christmas, so New Year’s Eve I’m pretty sure.’

Jay nodded, pouring his own coffee into a thermos. ‘Same here. You got plans? I usually hang out here on New Year’s, tee up an old game or something. Down town is a bit mad coming up to midnight.’

Will winced at bygone memories of New Year’s Eve parties he’d attended. ‘No plans - a game and a beer sounds great.’

‘Cool.’ Jay saluted him with his thermos as he started towards the door. ‘I’m sure I’ll see you at some point over the next few days - Happy Christmas brother.’

‘Happy Christmas!’ Will called after him but the door had already closed.

  
  


It was really up for debate if they would see each other – Will was working a double covering tonight and Jay had told him yesterday that they'd caught a big case; something involving drugs (what a surprise) and Jay was pretty sure he'd be going undercover for at least a day or two. It wasn't going to be 'Christmas' for either of them. Not that it mattered, they were both too old to care. They had both worked multiple holidays, Jay had spent two separate Christmas' in Afghanistan; it was just another day. They had agreed to forgo gifts – there was nothing either of them needed – but Will had bought a very top shelf bottle of whiskey which he was sure they could enjoy over New Year's, assuming Jay actually made it off for that.

  
  


Sixteen hours later and the steady stream of cooking accidents, family fights and food poisoning was starting to slow. Will had been on his feet all day but despite that it hadn't been a bad shift. There was a nice atmosphere in the ED, a camaraderie among those working through the holiday. There was also chocolate and cookies, along with stringy tinsel, on every surface.

  
  


But for now Will had some time to himself and he was going to take full advantage of the chance to take a nap – hopefully a long one but much more likely it would an hour before he was paged again. Still, he knew better than to waste an opportunity so he grabbed his things out of his locker and made his way to one of the on call rooms that was empty. Someone had strung fairy lights up around the bunks and, with the main light off, they gave the whole room a warm glow. Will smiled as he toed off his shoes and pulled back the blanket. Even if it was only an hour it would be a welcome break...

  
  


His head had barely touched the pillow when his phone rang. He was so tuned to work emergencies that he grabbed his pager first, only to drop in and look at his phone screen instead. It was an unknown number but it was almost midnight so Will wasn't going to ignore it, just in case.

  
  


'Hello?'

  
  


'Hey, it's me.' His brother's voice was a little laboured, clearly aiming for casual and missing the mark.

  
  


'Hey, what's up?' As much as Will wanted to immediately ask what was wrong Jay had told him about the undercover work for a reason. Jay had done a lot of UC work when he was in Major Crimes, he did less now with Intelligence but it still came up. When Will had come back to Chicago Jay had run through some rules for UC work. In general if Will saw Jay on the street he never called out to him; Jay would see him for sure and he'd come over if he could. If Jay approached him but acted like they didn't really know each other, used a different name or didn't use a name at all, Will was to go along with it. Right now Jay was calling from an unknown number and hadn't used Will's name when he'd answered, so the rules were in play.

  
  


'Can you spare fifteen minutes?'

  
  


'Yeah, no problem. You want to meet up?' Keep it neutral.

  
  


'You know the car park across the street?'

  
  


'Yeah?'

  
  


'Go to Level 3 – green Ford with the dented trunk. Bring supplies.'

  
  


Supplies – medical supplies. Keep it neutral. 'Anything in particular?'

  
  


'Nothing serious – just the basics.' The line went dead.

  
  


Nothing serious – coming from Jay that could be anything. But he hadn't sounded too bad – a little winded, probably in some pain but not too much. The basics. Will made his way straight from the on call room to the supply store, grabbing a medbag and then scanning the shelves for anything else he might need. The medbags were pre-stocked with all the standard first aid equipment but he added some extra gauze, bandages and saline, and as a last minute grabbed some haemostat pads – just in case Jay was hiding something really serious. After a quick stop for his coat he was hurrying past the main desk, calling to the duty nurse as he went.

  
  


'George I'm heading out for fifteen minutes, page me if there's an emergency.' He barely heard the 'yes Dr. Halstead' as he slipped through the automatic doors, through the almost empty waiting room and out into the freezing Chicago wind. He skipped the stairs in the carp park, jogging up the car ramps instead, to get to Level 3 as quickly as possible. The car park was about half full – it was used by the staff in the hospital so it never really emptied. Still it wasn't hard to find the beat up, faded green Ford, the figure of a man in the driver's seat just visible in the dim lights. The doors locks clicked off before Will got within six feet so rather than announce himself he just opened the passenger door and climbed in. It was a little easier to see Jay this close up but the lack of good light was probably hiding some bruising, if the blood that was on show was anything to go by.

  
  


Will wanted to react but instead he glanced in the back seat, which was empty, and turned back to a slightly smiling Jay. 'Just us?'

  
  


'Yeah,' Jay nodded, wincing at the movement. 'Good job on the phone call – you can never guarantee they aren't tapped. But no one followed me here, I made sure. It's just us.'

  
  


Will let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and dropped the med bag at his feet, reaching for Jay's shoulder instead. 'Good, then tell me what happened and what I can do.'

  
  


Jay smiled at him again but a split lip was dripping blood down his chin, so it was a somewhat gruesome look. 'It was just a beat down – not a serious one, just an initiation style. I only called you because I was near here and I need to deal with it quickly. Can you patch me up, please. Fast.'

  
  


'Initiation?' But Will was already reaching for Jay's face. 'Can you turn towards me a bit?' It wasn't ideal in the front seat of a car but after Will had gotten the flashlight on on his phone he could get a pretty good look. The split lip was only partly responsible for the blood on his brother's face, there was also a gash above his eyebrow and a small cut on his cheekbone. There were the startings of what would be an impressive collection of bruises as well. None of it was pretty, but none of it was life threatening either. 'Where else are you hurt?' Will knew better than to ask _if_ he was hurt anywhere else – the answer was always no. 'Ribs? Hands? Did you take any blows to the head?'

  
  


Jay shook his head as Will started rummaging in the medbag, looking for supplies. 'No, no head injury; like I said they weren't really trying to hurt me. I took a few kicks to the ribs alright but nothing's broken. And one of my fingers was dislocated but I've already popped it back in.'

  
  


Will sighed. 'I really wish you wouldn't do that. Let me stop all this bleeding and then I'll look at it.' It took a few minutes to get the cuts cleaned, making them bleed afresh, but when Will grabbed a set of steri-strips for the gash on Jay's eyebrow his brother stalled his hand.

  
  


'No, it can't look like I got medical attention. Nothing hospital issue.'

  
  


'Jay, you can buy these in any pharmacy, they're totally standard. You probably wouldn't put them on as well as I will but you could have done it yourself.'

  
  


'Fine, then let me stick them on.' Jay was reaching for the pack but Will held it out of his range.

  
  


'No. I'll put them on crooked if you need me to but I want to make sure the edges are properly aligned or it'll scar. Let me do it.'

  
  


Jay blinked and Will only just started to notice how tired his brother looked. 'Okay,' Jay agreed, 'but you will need to put them on a bit off. I'd have had to do it in the mirror, they wouldn't be perfect.'

  
  


'Yeah, tell me about it,' Will joked, earning him a little chuckle as he started carefully sticking the skin back together, making sure to fudge the alignment of the strips, as much as it hurt his former Plastics self. The split lip had stopped bleeding and there wasn't much else to do with it. The cut on Jay's cheek was too small to need strips, just some anti-septic. 'Okay-' Will removed his hands from Jay's face, having just done a quick check for fractures- 'show me your hand.'

  
  


Jay obediently held out his right hand, the middle finger clearly swollen and stiff. He pulled back again when Will reached for it though. 'Don't start pulling it around Will, it's fine.'

  
  


'I need to check the placement, Jay. Much as you like to act like it you aren't actually qualified to be reducing dislocations. You can do permanent damage.'

  
  


'Never have before.' But he did let Will take a hold of his hand and start moving his finger, hissing as he did.

  
  


'The joint is working okay but it really needs an x-ray?' Will knew Jay would say no even before his brother started shaking his head. 'Okay, fine but can I at least splint it?'

  
  


'No, not now. I need that hand.' It was his right hand, the hand he fired his gun with. Will didn't argue. 'Are we done?'

  
  


'Almost, let me check your ribs.'

  
  


'There's nothing broken, believe me.'

  
  


'I don't – let me check.' Jay just shook his head fondly as Will felt along his sides, noting where Jay winced. He couldn't feel any bones moving but Jay was clearly very tender on his right side, near the base of his rib cage – a classic place for a break. 'I really can't be sure, Jay. I know you need to be gone but I could rally do with checking for a fracture. I could get you in and out really quickly?' But Jay was already shaking head again.

  
  


'I can't Will. I'm okay, I promise. But I need to get back. Can you do me one more favour?'

  
  


'Yeah, of course, anything.'

  
  


'When you get back inside can you ring Voight. Tell him they bounced me in, I'm okay, and I'm going back to Jackson's now. Do you have that?'

  
  


'You were bounced in,' Will repeated, trying not to scoff at the stupidity of that, 'you'll live,' Jay smirked at the change, 'and you're going back to Jackson's now.'

  
  


Jay nodded, patting Will on the shoulder as he gathered the medbag up again. 'Thank you, brother.'

  
  


Will smiled at him, not admitting he was taking one last look, just in case. 'Anytime, Jay, I mean it. Call me when you get a chance?'

  
  


'Yeah, sure.' And with that he was pulling out of the space and driving away. Will waited until he was back in the quiet of the doctor's lounge to call Voight, who picked up on the second ring.

  
  


'Will? Is everything alright?' It was pretty unusual for Will to be calling him.

  
  


'Hey, Hank. Nothing's wrong, exactly, but I just saw Jay and he asked me to pass on a message to you.'

  
  


Voight breathed in loudly but gave no other sign of concern. 'And?'

  
  


'Jay said they bounced him in and he was going back to Jackson's now. He also said to tell you he was fine but that isn't really true so...'

  
  


'Is he okay to work? Did he come to you for help?'

  
  


'He did but he's not really badly hurt, I suppose. Cuts and bruises all over his face, and a dislocated finger he'd already set. I'm a little concerned about his ribs – there's one could be broken but I'd need an x-ray to check, and he wouldn't come inside the hospital. I patched him up and he assured me he was fine. I guess by his own standards he is.'

  
  


'Good.' Voight's tone turned reassuring. 'He won't be under too much longer, Will, you have my word. And as soon as we have the guys I'll make sure he's handed over to you.'

  
  


Will laughed a little at that. 'Alright, Hank, if you say so. Just have his back?'

  
  


'Always.'

  
  


After that Will had no choice but to put Jay from his mind and get back to work. He couldn't quite settle to sleep though so he got some food and a coffee instead, then got back out on the floor. The early morning would have been quiet except inevitably there was a drunk driver who ploughed into two other cars and so at 4 in the morning the trauma rooms were full. But Will didn't mind – it passed the time and kept his mind focused.

  
  


As a general rule he didn't dwell on Jay's work, the danger of it or the inevitability of Jay getting hurt regularly. He trusted his brother, and to an extent his team (Will didn't trust them the way Jay did but he did trust them). Filling up his thoughts with all the awful could-bes just wasn't an option, if for no other reason than Jay was pretty much constantly in danger and it would be impossible to worry about him every minute of every day.

  
  


Around 6am Will did fall asleep for a while. He couldn't run on caffeine forever and the power nap did him good. He was just thinking about sourcing some breakfast when his phone beeped. It was a text from Adam this time and it just said 'Incoming, ambulance bay in five minutes.' He'd added a smiley face to the end which Will took to mean 'don't panic'. Still he was out in the cold and waiting before the five minutes were up.

  
  


It was Voight's distinctive black SUV that rolled up, parking out of the way of incoming ambulances. The back door opened but Kevin was barely out before he was turning back around, reaching in to help Jay out. Will was already there.

  
  


'I'm fine.' The first words out of Jay's mouth were at odds with his appearance. The bruises from earlier had bloomed but it looked like he'd added a few more. The split lip was bleeding again, as was the gash on his eyebrow. He leaned heavily against Kevin when his feet hit the ground but one arm stayed wrapped tightly around his middle. He was clearly in pain.

  
  


'Sure you are, buddy.' Will spoke gently as he came around to Jay's other side, a hand on his elbow and one of his back. 'Come on, you need to sit down.' By that point Adam and Hank had appeared from out of the car as well; Adam hovering around behind them while Hank addressed Will.

  
  


'If that rib wasn't broken before it sure is now.'

  
  


'Sargeee.' Jay dragged the word out. 'You're ratting on me now?' He sounded a little punch drunk and Will turned a sharp look on Hank.

  
  


'Yeah,' Voight agreed to the non-verbal question, 'he definitely has a head injury.'

  
  


'Get him inside, now.' Will didn't want to rush Jay but Kevin helped hurry him along without putting much more strain on his injuries. As soon as they were inside Will directed them to Baghdad, already reset from the earlier drama, and left Adam and Kevin to help Jay onto the bed while he went in search of a doctor he trusted with his brother. He struck it lucky because it was shift change and no sooner had he left the treatment room than he saw Ethan coming out of the doctor's lounge, scrubs on and ID hanging from his hand. After recruiting him and getting Maggie, also just starting shift, to assign a nurse Will hurried back to the room.

  
  


Jay was reclining on the bed, being kept awake by Adam's persistent talking while Kevin pulled off his shoes. Voight was outside on the phone and just nodded as Will went by. He took Adam's place at Jay's head just as Ethan, followed by Monique, came in.

  
  


'You having a good holiday, Jay?' Ethan asked, not without humour. Will knew Jay liked Ethan because they both had that 'yes your arm is half off soldier but it's nothing to cry about' attitude. Despite that Will knew Ethan would take good care of Jay.

  
  


Jay, getting sleepier by the second it seemed, grinned at both doctors. 'Happy Christmas!' He attempted to spread his arms to complete the effect but Will was quicker, grabbing him before he hurt his ribs again.

  
  


'It's not Christmas any more, Jay.' Will watched Jay's eyes slowly focus on him. 'It's the next day, remember?'

  
  


Jay frowned at him and Will felt a spike of panic before his brother spoke. 'I know that, but we didn't really get to see each other yesterday.'

  
  


Will sighed a little – not totally out of it with the concussion then. 'We saw each other more than I had planned, buddy.'

  
  


The next half an hour was spent filling in Ethan on what had happened and getting on top of Jay's new, and old, injuries. After he was back from CT Ethan was happy to send him upstairs to a room for 24hrs observation and then home with pain meds and a week off work. Will, still with several hours to go in his double, had to leave it to Jay's team to see him settled upstairs. The day after Christmas was always busy – mostly alcohol or ill-advised present related injuries – so apart from a quick check upstairs at lunch, which Jay was asleep for, Will barely saw him. And Will was back on duty the next day before Jay was discharged, although Hank had promised to drive him home so Will knew he was in good hands.

  
  


Finally it was New Year's Eve and Will was actually going to be off for more than twelve hours. In fact he had the next three days off. All he really wanted to do was sleep but he also wanted to spend the planned time with Jay, whom he'd barely seen in the last few days.

  
  


Will got in around 10am, held up by a building fire in the early hours of the morning, but the apartment was quiet. A peek into Jay's room showed him still asleep, unusual but not worryingly so, but it did mean Will could fall into his own bed guilt free. When he woke up, late into the afternoon, he found Jay had migrated to the couch. The cuts had all closed up now but the rib was still bothering him and the bruises had all turned a sickly yellow/green colour.

  
  


'You look a mess.' Will grinned as Jay flipped him the finger without looking up from his phone. 'You're not supposed to be on your phone with that concussion Jay,' Will reminded him as he poured a glass of water and made his way back to the couch. Despite his teasing he did lower himself carefully, not wanting to jostle Jay.

  
  


'It's fine,' Jay predictably answered. But he did toss the phone down as he said it. 'I was just checking on the dinner order – pizza okay?'

  
  


'Always.'

  
  


'Good.' Jay got a sly smile on his face. 'I'm thinking it would go well with that very nice bottle of whiskey I found under the sink.'

  
  


Will just shook his head, grinning. A 'resting' Jay was a Jay getting into everything he could open. 'I did buy it for today but you can't drink on painkillers, so none for you.' He stuck his tongue out and laughed as Jay did the same.

  
  


'Firstly,' his brother started, holding up a finger, 'you're crazy if you think I would let you drink that in front of me while I couldn't have any. And secondly, I haven't taken any meds since I left the hospital so you're out of luck, half that bottle's mine.'

  
  


'Jay!' Will wished he could get upset but honestly he wasn't surprised. That wouldn't stop him from trying though. 'You need to take the meds – you'll be breathing out of sync if you're in too much pain.'

  
  


Jay just took a purposefully deep breath, like a literal child. 'I'm fine.' His voice was unsteady. 'I've had broken ribs before, I know what I'm doing.'

  
  


'I'm so sure,' Will mumbled under his breath as he got up to answer the door buzzer. Hot pizza and the promised glass of whiskey went perfectly with the old Bears game showing on cable and for the next few hours the brothers sat and chatted, mostly making fun of the other team, and occasionally each other.

  
  


Late into the evening Jay started to get quiet and Will watched him slowly drift off against the cushions. Will took a few minutes to clean up the pizza boxes and glasses, secretly pleased that Jay trusted him enough to stay asleep through the movement and small noises. Once that was done he went back to the couch and gently shook Jay's foot where it rested on the coffee table. Jay's eyes opened immediately.

  
  


'Come on, buddy, into an actual bed to sleep.' Will expected Jay to grumble but comply, but instead he glanced at the clock, out the window and then shook his head.

  
  


'No, it's fine. I'm not that tired, I'm going to watch something else for a while.'

  
  


'Not that tired?' Will raised an eyebrow. 'I literally just woke you up. You're not watching something else, you need to rest. Come on, I'm calling it a night too.' That got an eyebrow raise of his own.

  
  


'You got out of bed five hours ago.' Jay grinned. 'Are you getting that old, dude? Do you want a walker to get to the bed, we bought Antonio one – I'm sure he'd share?' Jay laughed as Will kicked his foot, not wanting to hurt him anywhere else.

  
  


' _Ha ha ha_ , you should do stand up. Today was me catching up on last night's sleep,' he explained. 'Now I need tonight's sleep.' He pulled gently on Jay's shoulder. 'Come on, I'm not taking no for an answer.'

  
  


Once again Jay glanced towards the clock and back at Will. Then he stood slowly, arm wrapped around his middle. 'Yeah, yeah, okay, I'm going.' Will followed him as he slowly made his way to his bedroom but had to stop when Jay turned and held the door half closed. 'I don't need a bedtime story, Will, go away.' Will just blew him a raspberry and made for his own bed.

  
  


Despite what he had said to Jay Will did find it hard to get to sleep. He was tired but not enough to fall asleep easily. He read for a while and then just as he was starting to drift off the fireworks started in earnest. There had been the occasional bang on and off since dark but now, Will guessed it was getting close to midnight, the explosions came so close together they almost merged into one continuous noise. They were coming from all directions and Will knew they were being let off all over the city. In just a few hours the EDs of every hospital would be filled with burns, damaged corneas and detached fingers. Will had worked plenty of New Years' and it had been as busy in Plastics as it was now in Emergency.

  
  


Crash! That sound came from a lot closer – inside the apartment to be exact. From the other side of the wall in fact – Jay's room. Will got up quickly, tapping lightly on Jay's door and then opening it quietly, worried Jay had tripped and fallen in the dark. But from the light coming through the door it was clear his brother was still in the bed. The lamp that normally sat on the table by his head was on the ground but Jay hadn't woken at the noise. His arm was stretched out, obviously what had knocked the lamp. Will was just wondering if he should fix the lamp and risk waking Jay or just leave it until morning when another loud sequence of fireworks went off – these ones near by. Jay flinched violently, his arm swinging outwards again and head tossing to the side. Crap, explosions.

  
  


Will was no expert in PTSD. He had learned a small amount about it in med school and had read a few medical journals on the subject when Jay had first deployed. But he hadn't been in Chicago when Jay had come home and now Jay never talked about it, or showed any much sign of it either. But Will didn't need his medical degree to be able to tell that explosions must be a trigger for someone who served in a war-zone. And the one thing he did know about Jay was that he suffered from nightmares sometimes. The apartment walls weren't that thick and Will was a light sleeper. He also knew, anecdotally, that startling awake someone having a PTSD nightmare was a sure way to get punched.

  
  


'Jay?' He moved to the foot of the bed, well out of striking distance but close enough to be easily identified in the light from the still open door. 'Jay?' More fireworks and Jay whimpered, curling around himself a little – a move that had to be painful on his ribs. 'Jay, come on buddy, wake up.' Will risked shaking Jay's foot gently through the blanket. 'It's me, wake up.' Another, even louder, explosion, and Jay's eyes flew open. It took him less than a second to find Will, blinking as he tried to focus. 'It's okay, Jay. I think you were having a nightmare.' More blinking and Will moved closer as Jay seemed calm. 'You're in your bed in Chicago, Jay. I'm right here.' Another quick succession of pops and bangs and Jay's hand flew out, grabbing Will by the wrist and pulling strongly.

  
  


'Will!' Jay wasn't really awake, that much was clear. 'It's okay Will. Air support is coming.' He tugged harder on Will's arm, forcing Will to sit on the edge of the bed or be pulled over.

  
  


'It's okay Jay.' Will didn't really know what to do about this but Jay seemed to be listening to him. 'They're just fireworks, Jay. You're in Chicago.' He gently removed his wrist from Jay's grip and ran his hand up and down his brother's shoulder, hoping to get him to calm down and relax a little – he was still tense and curled up.

  
  


'Fireworks?' Jay blinked again, flinching violently as more explosions sounded and Will moved his other hand up to Jay's cheek.

  
  


'Yeah, fireworks, buddy. I wouldn't be here otherwise, right?' Will didn't really know if Jay was capable of rationalising in this state but he did seem to calm a little at the words, nodding absently.

  
  


'Yeah. Yeah, right.' Jay's fingers had curled into Will's t-shirt now. 'Yeah, fireworks.' His eyes were already closing and his voice getting softer. 'Fireworks.' That was a whisper and the very last word was so quiet Will almost missed it. 'Stay.'

  
  


Despite appearing to have fallen back asleep Jay's grip hadn't loosened on Will's shirt; the fabric bunched into his fist. Will stared down at his sleeping brother, who twitched again as more pops could be heard in the distance. The noise would go on for hours more. Sighing a little he leaned forward, Jay's hand moving with him, and started gently pushing and prodding a grumbling Jay further into the centre of the bed. Moving semi-conscious people was something Will _did_ have a lot of experience with so it didn't take long before there was enough space for him to lie down as well, leaning over Jay to take the spare pillow for himself. Jay hadn't let go of his shirt the entire time but that was fine; when Will lay down on his side Jay could keep holding on while still lying comfortably on his back. Another, louder, bang and Jay's head tossed to the side again, indistinct mumbling coming from clenched teeth.

  
  


'Shhh, Jay.' Will reached out a hand, slowly, and laid it on his brother's chest. 'It's fine, go back to sleep.' Jay calmed again and Will smiled softly, remembering a much smaller Jay who used to fall asleep next to him on the couch while Will watched cartoons. Jay would curl himself in under Will's arm and basically try to mould himself into Will's body heat. He'd never liked the cold. Jay didn't do things like that any more, of course, but Will was happy to be able to help in this moment. Jay turned a little in his sleep, his head angling towards Will and his hand tugging slightly. Will ran his hand slowly up and down Jay's chest, feeling his brother's breath evening out. 'I'm right here, Jay, it's okay.' Then Will closed his own eyes too.


	15. Not Just A Little Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this is a sequel to chapter 2 - Just A Little Cold. This, I think, was the first request I got, so apologies for it taking this long. This story starts up where Chap2 ends and it turns out Jay was maybe a bit lax with exactly how cold and wet he'd gotten.
> 
> Disclaimer - I have little to no medical training. This isn't, as far as I know, how pneumonia works, and this definitely isn't how vaccines work. This is just drama for drama's sake.

Will couldn’t say what woke him. Years of sleep deprivation for the job usually meant once he was asleep he was out like a light. But the clock was shining 4am and his eyes were open. Jay’s apartment was in an okay part of town - it was rare to hear gunshots, for instance - but it was still a city. Car horns, sirens, drunk people on the street, coughing. Coughing? Will was out of the bed and making for Jay’s room before his brain even really registered the decision. He flicked the light on as soon as he had the door open and took in the situation.

Jay had pushed most of the blankets down around his waist, leaving only the hoodie he had gone to bed in. And it was dark with sweat. He was half curled up on his side, one arm braced around his middle, the other up to his face, as he coughed heavily into the pillow. His eyes were closed and, worryingly, he didn’t react to the light going on. In fact he didn’t even seem to register Will calling him name or coming closer. He didn’t open his eyes until Will knelt by the side of the bed, a hand reaching out to check for fever. Jay’s skin was on fire and his eyes barely focused as he squinted at his brother.

‘Jay?’ Will moved his hand so he was rubbing the back of Jay’s neck, the other snaking around his wrist to check his pulse. Fast, too fast. ‘Jay, talk to me, buddy, how do you feel?’

Jay didn’t answer right away, coughing for another full minute before he spoke. His voice was horse and painful, and his eyes had closed again. ‘Cold. Just feel cold.’ He was clearly out of it, head rolling to the side as he talked. Will cursed and ran back out in the living room where he had left his med-bag. Jay was coughing again when he came back in but didn’t even fight as Will started a work up.

Temp: 103.2 - way too high. Heartrate: 142 - tachycardic. Pulse-ox’: 85 - bad, really bad.

Jay did protest when Will unzipped the hoodie he was wearing, making feeble attempts to stop him. Will just shushed him, batting his hands down and sticking the stethoscope against his chest. Jay’s lungs were wet, audible even over the hacking cough. Will cursed again.

‘Jay?’ He grabbed Jay’s face to make him look at him. ‘Jay, we’re going to the hospital, okay?’

‘No.’ Jay tried to push at Will but there was no strength in it at all. ‘Just need t' sleep, go ‘way.’

‘No buddy.’ Will stroked a hand over Jay’s flushed cheek, waiting until his brother opened his eyes and looked at him. ‘I know you don’t want to go, but you’re sick Jay, really sick. I have to bring you in. I’m gonna get dressed, I’ll be two minutes and then I’ll drive us, okay?’ Jay didn’t agree but he didn’t argue any more either.

Will ran into the other room, grabbing his scrubs from the day before, his jacket and his phone. He was back in Jay’s room in under three minutes, pulling him into a sitting position and efficiently stripping off his hoodie and t-shirt. The cold air on his skin woke Jay up a little, enough that he half helped Will tuck him into fresh clothes and get him on his feet. It was a slow trip down the stairs. Jay, his arm slung over Will’s shoulders, had to stop every couple of minutes to cough and catch his breath. His breathing was getting worse. Will wished Jay’s private car was equipped with sirens as he booked it through a few red lights, ignoring Jay’s weak protests from the passenger’s seat.

He parked next to the ambulance bay, against the rules but he didn’t care, and ran around to help Jay out of the car. Expect by now it was less ‘helping’ and more ‘carrying’. Jay wasn’t even coughing as much, not because it had subsided but because his body was too tired to keep it up. Instead there was an audible rattle every time he inhaled, with a wheeze to match on the exhale. Will wrapped Jay’s arm around his shoulders, and his own arm around Jay’s waist, taking at least half his brother’s weight, as he pulled them towards the automatic doors.

Several heads looked up when the doors slid open, because walking wounded didn’t normally come in there, but Will was only paying attention to someone who could help.

‘Ethan!’ he called as soon as he spotted him. The doctor, who had been reading a chart, glanced up and then did a double take.

‘Will? Jay?!’ Ethan was by Jay’s side in an instant, adding his support to the detective’s other side. Jay didn’t even notice. ‘Will, what happened?’

‘He tackled a guy into the river yesterday,’ Will started explaining, as they dragged Jay towards a treatment room. ‘He was cold but not hypothermic last night. He went to bed and then half an hour ago I found him like this. His pulse ox is 85, he’s running a temp of 103 and his lungs are wet.’ They lifted Jay onto the bed, April and a second nurse called Melissa running in at Ethan’s call.

‘Okay,’ Ethan immediately took charge, ‘April, get him on the monitors, Melissa, oxygen at 100%. I need a full panel of bloods, throat cultures and get me that x-ray in here now. Will-‘ Ethan spared a moment to look at his colleague, hovering at the end of the bed, ‘Give us the room.’

‘What?!’ Will snapped his attention from his brother’s flushed face, now half covered by an oxygen mask. ‘Ethan, no - I’ll stay out of the way but-‘

‘Will,’ Ethan cut him off, now busy listening to Jay’s lungs for himself, ‘No. I have enough staff in here, go and wait outside.’ Again he looked up, pinning Will with a sincere stare. ‘I've got him, Will, I promise.’

Will wanted to argue more, but even as he opened his mouth another nurse started pulling in the x-ray machine and he was in the way. He _was_ in the way, he knew it. And he knew Ethan would look after Jay, just as well as Will would, if not better. Didn’t make leaving any easier…

Will ended up in the doctor’s lounge. He threw himself onto the couch first, head in his hands, thinking back. Jay had been fine when Will had come over. Or had he? Will had checked his temperature but he hadn’t checked his lungs. He got up and started pacing. He had just taken Jay at his word. Let him slide on a proper check-up. Even when Jay had been coughing Will hadn’t checked… He’d sent Jay to bed, with water on his lungs. His brother had been a risk for secondary drowning, and Will hadn’t even… He hadn’t even bothered to…Jay was seriously ill right now, lying unconscious in an ED bed, and he wouldn't be if Will had just pushed a little harder, if Will had done his literal job and taken care of his own brother....

‘Will?’ Ethan’s voice interrupted his thoughts at just the right moment because Will had been working himself close to full blown panic, still pacing back and forth.

‘Ethan!’ Will stopped pacing and met the other doctor half way into the room. ‘Is he okay? How bad is it?’

Ethan crossed his arms but his face was calm. ‘I’m waiting for confirmation from the lab but it’s almost certainly pneumonia.’ Will ran a hand over his face and through his hair, cursing. ‘Will.’ Ethan grabbed his shoulder, squeezing. ‘It’s really not that serious. We’ve already started him on broad spectrums, his pulse-ox is up with the oxygen, and we know we’ve caught it in the first few hours. There’s no reason he won’t make a full recovery. Calm down.’

‘Yeah.’ Will knew he was right, he did. But it didn’t help the ball of guilt forming in his chest. ‘Yeah, I know. Are you done with the work up - can I go back in?’ Jay would be kept in the ED until the lab results were back and a treatment plan in place.

Ethan nodded, moving to the side to let Will by. ‘Yeah, you can. I have some patients to check on but I’ll be in as soon as those bloods come back.’ He stopped Will again as the red head tried to move past him. ‘Will, are you sure you’re alright?’

‘What?’ Will glanced back out in the ED, wanting to have Jay within sight again. ‘Yeah, man, I’m fine. Thanks.’ It was a lie and they both knew it.

Jay was leaning back against the half raised bed, his eyes closed and his skin still flushed. Two IVs - one fluids, one antibiotics - snaked into his arms, monitor cables tucked into the neck of of the gown he'd been changed into. He wasn't coughing any more but he still had a full oxygen mask over most of his face. He looked younger, wrapped up in a blanket and small against the white sheets. Even Will, who remembered toddler Jay, rarely saw his brother in anything less than full combat mode. These days Jay didn't really seem to have an off switch for that, even when he wasn't on duty. Will was grateful that Jay loved his work, that he had found something to fill the hole he had been digging when he got back from the war. But sometimes a small, selfish part of Will wished Jay didn't have to love his job quite so much.

'You can never just let them get away, can you?' he found himself saying softly, as he pulled a stool up to the side of the bed and ran a hand through Jay's hair. A hand on his forehead told Will what the machines could have too – the antibiotics were already starting to work, Jay was just a little cooler than he had been an hour ago. Jay was young and fit and strong. He would react well to the medication and would probably be in full recovery in a matter of days. Dr. Halstead knew it. _Will_ felt kind of nauseous.

  
  


Jay was asleep, which he needed, but was disconcerting in its own way. He would occasionally, _very occasionally_ , fall asleep in front of Will, but in general Jay didn't let his guard down that much in front of anyone. The ED, even in the middle of the night, was bustling, and the door to Jay's bay wasn't even closed. But asleep he was. Will still had too much adrenaline running through his system to even think about closing his eyes. So he stayed leaning against the bed, one hand running through Jay's hair in a show of affection his brother would never allow if he was aware.

  
  


Ethan came back in about twenty minutes later, a tablet hanging from one hand. 'Well, it's strep,' he started, stopping on the other side of the bed. 'So I've ordered the targeted meds and I have a private room upstairs for him. The porters will be in in a minute to take him up and they'll start the meds up there.' Ethan eyed Will with a raised eyebrow. 'And I also left a note for someone to be called to cover your shift today.'

  
  


'What?' Will had still been concentrating on Jay and took a moment to register the second half of what was said. 'Ethan, no, it's fine. No one needs to cover for me. I have a change of scrubs in my locker, I'll-'

  
  


Ethan just held up a hand. 'Will, there's no way you're treating patients on almost no sleep and with your mind upstairs with your brother. Maggie gets in in an hour, she'll have time to call someone to cover. That's not up for debate.' His attention shifted back to Jay. 'Speaking of cover; do you need to call the district and let them know he won't be in?'

  
  


'Oh, shoot, yeah.' Will pulled his phone out but then read the time – 5.30. He glanced up. 'I'll call Voight after 7. Let him know what happened.'

  
  


Ethan nodded. 'Tell him I expect Jay to be released once the first course of meds are done – this evening if he's well enough. And then he'll be signed off for a week, light duties for another week after that.' He smiled at his colleague. 'How likely do you think it is that Jay actually follows those instructions?'

  
  


Will managed a small smile as he looked back at his brother, still out like a light. 'About as likely as you would I think. What do they teach you lot in the military?'

  
  


Ethan just laughed softly, patting Will on the back as he made for the door. 'Suicidal tendencies, mostly. I'll check in before I go home. Hang in there.'

  
  


An hour and half later found Jay still sound asleep in a room upstairs and Will slumped in a chair next to him. Despite his worry he'd dozed off not long after getting Jay settled and confirming with Maggie that Jones was perfectly happy to pick up a double, as his kid was starting college next year. Will was just falling into a deeper sleep when the alarm on his phone went off, startling him awake and making Jay stir a little.

  
  


'Shh.' Will stroked his hand through Jay's hair again, quickly silencing the phone. As much as he wanted to see Jay awake and alert, his brother needed his sleep a lot more. He was getting started on the targeted meds, and it was best Jay slept through as much of that as possible.

  
  


The alarm had been to remind him that he needed to call Voight and so he made his way down to one of the family rooms – empty at this hour of the morning – and dialed the number. Voight picked up immediately – did the man do nothing but work?

  
  


'Will? What's wrong?' Straight to the point.

  
  


'Sorry to be calling so early, Hank,' Will couldn't stop himself starting with that – he just couldn't be as direct as the sergeant. 'But Jay took a turn for the worse during the night. The cold developed into pneumonia, I had to bring him into Med.'

  
  


'Is he alright?'

  
  


'He will be. He's asleep right now but he's on IV antibiotics and his temp is down. Dr. Choi is hoping to discharge him this evening, if the meds work fast. But he'll be signed off for a week and he'll need to take it easy for at least another week after that.'

  
  


'That's not a problem.' Voight dismissed the time off immediately. 'How did it develop so quickly? He was fine yesterday afternoon, apart from being wet and cold.'

  
  


'He had water on his lungs, so he was halfway there already.' _I should have noticed._

  
  


'Alight,' Voight accepted the explanation with no further comment. 'Keep me updated on his status. I'll swing by at lunch time and check in on him.'

  
  


The call ended and Will made his way back to Jay's room, only to be greeted by his brother's confused gaze.

  
  


'Will?' Jay's voice was horse, sore just to listen too, and he blinked slowly as Will hurried to his side. 'Why am I in a hospital bed?' He glanced around and then back at Will. 'What happened?' Then he started coughing, wincing as he hurt his throat even more.

  
  


'Shh, don't talk too much.' Will grabbed a glass of water the nurse had left by the bed and kept a hand under it as Jay drank. 'Just sip it, take it easy.'

  
  


Jay coughed a few more times but it was a lot softer once he'd downed half the water. Will put the glass down and reached for Jay's forehead, ignoring the sleepy glare coming from his brother. His temperature was down to just a low heat now, his eyes tired but not fever bright. The antibiotics were still going but a good portion of the bag was gone, along with a lot of the fluids. Jay tolerated the 'doctoring' for about a minute before batting away Will's hands.

  
  


'Will, what happened?' Another cough.

  
  


Will sighed, some of the adrenaline finally leaving him as he pulled up the chair and sat down. 'You developed pneumonia.' Jay's eyebrows shot up and Will quickly carried on, hands raised in a placating manner. 'You're going to be fine, it's okay. But you got really sick last night, I brought you in here. Do you remember any of that?' Unsurprisingly Jay shook his head. 'Yeah, you were pretty out of it with the fever. It's okay. Ethan's put you on a course of antibiotics that will take care of it. You're going to be fine.'

  
  


'How long will I be in here?' Jay predictably asked – never the fan of hospitals.

  
  


Will just shook his head with a small smile. 'If you keep improving through the day you can go home this evening. But you're off work for a week.' Jay immediately protested but Will cut him off. 'I've already spoken to Hank, so don't even try to sneak back.'

  
  


'You called Voight?'

  
  


'Yeah, of course I did.' Will leaned his arms against the bed. 'He said he'd swing by at lunchtime and check on you.' Jay coughed again. 'Do you want some more water?'

  
  


Jay started to say no but was cut off with another chesty cough and Will grabbed the glass. 'Small sips,' he reminded, as he held it up. But Jay coughed again before he could gets the glass to his mouth, pushing away Will's hand in favour of curling a little over his chest. Coughing more.

  
  


'Jay?' Will glanced at he monitors – Jay's oxygen levels were dropping again. 'Jay, can you take a deep breath for me?' He grabbed his brother's shoulders as Jay struggled to keep himself up. 'Just one, come on.' But Jay's coughing was becoming the wheeze of closing airways and Will didn't hesitate to push the emergency button, alarms from the oxygen meter beating him to the warning.

  
  


‘It’s okay, Jay, it’s okay.’ Nurses were already running into the room, followed by the on-duty doctor. But Jay didn’t seem to notice, too busy struggling to get air into his lungs, one hand clawing at his throat even as the other fisted tightly into Will’s shirt. ‘Shh, it’s okay, Jay.’ Will glanced up at the duty doctor - Green. ‘I think he’s having a reaction - his airway’s closing.’ Then he went back to comforting his panicking brother, torn between being a doctor and a family member. ‘Just one second, Jay, just try to breathe, we’re going to fix it.’ He stroked a hand through Jay’s hair, his brother’s eyes blinking more slowly and his grip loosening as he slowly ran out of oxygen. A nurse had placed a full mask back over his face and Jay didn’t even fight her on it.

Seconds later it was over. Green had pulled the antibiotics out of the IV and pushed steroids. Jay’s breathing went from wheezing back to just laboured under the mask and his eyes closed, head turned a little into Will’s hand.

‘Shh, it’s okay.’ Will’s heart was pounding. ‘Just rest, Jay, it’s okay.’ He looked back up at his colleague, trying to pull himself back into medical mode. ‘How’s his oxygen? You don’t need to intubate, do you?’

Green was watching the monitor closely but shook his head at the question. ‘His sats are going up - slowly, but they’re climbing with the mask. I think he’ll be okay on his own. We’ll have to watch it carefully though. Did your brother have an allergy listed for this medication?’ Green signalled to a nurse to bring his tablet.

‘No.’ Will hadn’t even asked Ethan which antibiotic he’d chosen - Jay didn’t have any allergies. ‘He’s never had a reaction to anything before. What was he on?’ Will couldn’t stop the hand that was still stroking through Jay’s hair. His brother was moving slightly, twitching in his sleep.

Green was examining the IV bag. ‘It’s just Levofloxacin. Would he have had that before?’

Levofloxacin was a pretty standard antibiotic, taken in tablet form for all sorts of things. But Jay was notoriously bad at taking meds for anything. ‘Probably not.’ Will sighed, running his free hand through his hair. ‘Jay doesn’t get sick often, so he’s not taken much really. But he’s never had a reaction to anything.’

Green was now flicking through Jay’s file, frowning at a few notes there. ‘It could just be a rogue ingredient he’s never come in contact with before.’ He glanced back up at the almost empty IV bag. ‘It took this long for him to react, so it was obviously caused by a build-up of something, rather than an immediate reaction.’ The doctor looked back down at the file, clicking on something and raising his eyebrows. He looked back up at Will. ‘Your brother has had a lot of vaccinations - does he travel a lot?’

Will almost laughed. ‘He was Army - he did tours in Afghanistan, they’ll have been for that.’ Despite how Jay acted Will didn’t actually stalk his brother - he hadn’t read Jay’s whole medical file for instance, because that would be weird. He only looked at it for new injuries when Jay ended up in the ED. Green was still frowning. ‘What is it?’

‘I read a journal last month,’ Green began, tapping his tablet off one hand, ‘that had an article about certain bounding proteins used in antibiotics reacting with the traces of more obscure vaccinations in the body. The article was making the point that it rarely comes up in the trials because the test subjects wouldn’t have had the vaccines.’

‘You think that’s what happened?’ Will hadn’t read that article. It one way it made sense, in another it meant he needed to start paying much closer attention to what Jay took, and what he had taken in the past.

Green shrugged. ‘It might be. Or Jay might just have had a reaction to one of the ingredients, like I said. He’ll need an allergy work up when he’s doing better. In the meantime I want a repeat scan of his lungs and we’ll move him onto a more generic antibiotic.’ Green glanced at file again. ‘He was due to be released this evening but I think I’d prefer he stay tonight, just to make sure he gets through the new IV without any more reactions. I’m assuming you’ll be able to keep an eye on him once he switches to oral meds?’

‘Yeah,’ Will agreed, letting out another sigh. ‘I’ll keep tabs when he’s released.’

  
  


‘Okay.’ Green smiled gently at him. ‘In that case I’ll organise the new scan and the meds, and we’ll go from there.’

After some more poking and prodding, all of which Jay slept through, Will was left alone with him again, waiting on an orderly for the scan. There was about fifteen minutes of quiet, while Will compulsively watched the new medication drip through the IV, searching Jay’s face and the monitors for even the tiniest indication of something going wrong. All that happened was Jay’s oxygen sats continued to slowly rise.

When they’d climbed back above the 90% mark Jay started to stir, head moving around restlessly. Will's hand found its way back into Jay's hair. 'Shh, it's okay, Jay.' How many times had he said that in the last hour? 'Open your eyes, it's okay.'

  
  


Bleary green eyes met his, half lidded and frowning. Jay was still wearing the full oxygen mask but he didn't really need to speak for Will to know what he wanted. 'You had a reaction to the medication you were on, Jay. But you're okay now.' A blink and a deeper frown. 'We don't know why you reacted to it. You might not have had this antibiotic before, you might be allergic to something in it. Or it could be something else. We'll figure it out when you're back to a hundred percent.' Another two blinks and Jay raised his hand weakly to his chest. 'You should be fine. We've put you on a different medication, a really basic one, and you're doing a lot better already. You will need to stay tonight but you can go home tomorrow so long as you keep improving.' The hand moved up to his face and Will gently pulled it back down. 'No, you have to keep the mask, sorry. Your oxygen dropped too low. Once it's back to a higher level I'll switch it out for the nasal tube, okay?' Jay wrinkled his nose and Will chuckled a little. 'I know it's uncomfortable but you're already doing a lot better, it won't be there for long, I promise.' The blinks were becoming slower. 'You should rest more, Jay, it's the best way to heal up. When you wake up again maybe you can have a little food and you'll feel a lot better.' He continued stroking Jay's hair as he watched his brother fall unconscious again, breath evening out and muscles relaxing.

  
  


Jay woke briefly as they moved him to x-ray but slept through the actual scan, and was still asleep when he was delivered back to Will in his private room. Will had taken the free time to get a coffee and answer questions from several concerned colleagues he'd seen in the canteen. He was back before Jay though and took up his vigil as soon as his brother was wheeled back in. Not that there was anything to do. Jay had now been through one full IV bag of the new meds, with no complications, and his temperature was almost back to normal. His oxygen levels had risen enough to switch to a nasal cannula and he was sleeping peacefully, even if that in itself was out of the ordinary for him.

  
  


Voight walked in around 1pm, Jay still asleep and Will staring blankly at the wall, one hand resting next to Jay's on the bed.

  
  


'Will?' Hank kept his voice low but the question was heavily implied as he looked at his not exactly on-the-mend detective.

  
  


Will jerked, not having noticed the sergeant entering but sighed heavily as soon as he realised who had spoken. He ran a hand through his hair, staring at Jay's chest, rising and falling steadily, the wheeze much softer now. 'We had an incident earlier. He's going to be fine but he needs to stay tonight. He should still be good to work in the week but I can't guarantee that right now.' He looked up in time to see Hank's face turn down into a concerned frown.

  
  


'What happened?' He moved closer, standing by the foot of the bed, eyes still on Jay.

  
  


'He had a reaction to the meds he was given. He's going to be fine, like I said, but it was...' Will sighed again. 'It wasn't great.'

  
  


'But he'll be alright?'

  
  


'I'm fine.' Jay's voice was still horse but he was much more awake than he had been in the last 24 hours, as he opened his eyes and reached for the water glass, shaking his head at Will's silent offer of help. He spoke again after he'd finished half the drink. 'I'll be fine, sarge, just need a few days.'

  
  


A soft cough followed that and Hank raised one eyebrow, a slight smile on his face.

‘Oh yeah, you definitely look a hundred percent, kid.’ Hank shook his head, still smiling. ‘Do I need to order you to stop tackling perps into the water, Halstead? It’s becoming a pattern.’

Jay frowned grumpily. ‘I’m more likely to get hurt tackling them to the ground.’

‘As opposed to this?’ Hank waved a hand through the air, indicating Jay’s current situation. ‘You know, maybe you should start using that taser the city spent time and money training you in?’

Will watched, a little confused, as both Jay and Hank started laughing. It didn’t take long for Jay to descend into coughing though. Hank watched as Will refilled the water cup and rubbed Jay on the back while he took slow breaths.

‘Okay,’ Hank started, drawing the brothers’ attention back to him. ‘I’ll leave you to it. Jay, I don’t expect to see you until next week, and I’ll be checking with Will before I let you in the bullpen, clear?’

Jay didn’t bother fighting him on it, already running out of energy again. ‘Yes, sarge.’ Hank nodded to them both and left, as Jay sunk back into the pillows, sighing softly.

‘You’ll be tired for the next few days,’ Will explained, not without sympathy. ‘But if you actually rest up properly that should fade before the week is out.’

‘Mmm,’ was Jay’s inspired response, his eyes already closed. ‘Are you going to go home?’ he asked, cracking one eyelid half open. ‘How much sleep have you gotten?’

Will just sat back down, where he’d been before Voight arrived. ‘I’m fine. I’m not back on duty until tomorrow morning, loads of time. I’ll stick around here for a little longer.’

‘And watch me?’ Jay grinned sleepily. ‘Creepy.’

‘Three hours ago you couldn’t breathe so forgive me for being a little concerned!’ Will shut his mouth as Jay’s eyes snapped open. He hadn’t meant to say that. ‘Sorry, Jay.’ He put his hand back on Jay’s arm. ‘Sorry, I guess I am kinda tired. Ignore me, go back to sleep.’

But Jay was already pulling himself up against the pillows, eyes locked on Will. ‘No way, what was that? Are you okay?’

Will sighed, trying to even out his expression. ‘I’m fine. I’m not the one in a hospital bed, right? Like I said, I’m just tired, maybe I’ll catch a nap while you rest. You should rest.’ He looked up but Jay was still pinning him with a stare.

‘Bullshit.’ His brother coughed once and then went back to staring. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing’s wrong, I-‘

‘Will.’ Jay cut him off. ‘As much as I hate to admit it I don’t have the energy to argue with you on this right now. Tell me what’s wrong.’

Normally admitting defeat wouldn’t be the way to get Will to give in but Jay’s voice was soft, his throat still raw, and since guilt was what was wrong anyway… ‘You shouldn’t be here.’

Jay’s eyebrows crinkled into a frown. ‘I’m going to be fine, Will. It sucks but getting hurt, or whatever, is a part of the job.’

‘No,’ Will interrupted, picking at the blanket edge because he didn’t want to meet his brother’s eye. ‘I mean you wouldn’t be here if I’d been more careful. I didn’t check you over last night, I should have. If I had bothered to check I could have treated you before all this happened. And you wouldn’t be this sick, and you wouldn’t have had a reaction to the meds, and-‘

‘Woah, woah.’ Jay’s hand landed on his shoulder, making him look up. ‘Is that what this is about? Man, you’ve got the biggest martyr complex I’ve ever seen. Not everything is on you, you know?’

‘This is.’ Will ignored the comment about martyrdom because it was maybe a little (very) true. ‘This is literally my job. I should have checked you over properly, Jay. I’m sorry.’

‘Like I would have let you.’ Jay clapped his hand on Will’s shoulder, although it lacked any really strength behind it. ‘I’m a big boy, Will, I make my own choices. And it’s fine, I’m-‘ He was interrupted by a yawn which led to another short coughing fit.

‘Go back to sleep, Jay, please,’ Will asked, after getting Jay more water.

Jay eyed him for a second, seemingly deciding whether they needed to keep talking. Will must have successfully looked not as guilty because Jay nodded and relaxed more against the bed. ‘Are you going to go home and rest?’

‘Nope,’ Will replied, popping the ‘p’ and watching Jay grin a little as he shook his head.

‘Fine, whatever, creeper. Wake me up when there’s food, will you?’

  
  



	16. After the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this was a request for after Will got hit in the head with a microscope in 'Infection'. It was a really bad hit, microscopes are extremely heavy. And nothing really came of it - doctors are the worst at looking after themselves. I feel like this story just sort of happens and then ends... I mean I think it's okay but I sometimes struggle with how to end pieces like this, where it doesn't stop so much as just filters out? But anyway, here it is :-)
> 
> Oh fun fact for you that I just discovered while researching this story: Canaryville in Chicago stretches from 40th to 49th street - one of those streets is called Halsted Street....

They only had the one drink at the bar, neither in the mood for rowdy company and both exhausted from the day's ( _days'_ ) events. Will made no comment when Jay drove them both back to his own apartment, just followed his brother up the stairs and into the living room.

'You want a beer?' Jay asked, hanging his jacket in the closet even as Will dropped his unceremoniously on an armchair.

'No, I'll just take a water, if you have one.' Jay gave him a funny look but Will ignored him. His head was pounding now that the adrenaline had finally worked its way out of his system. He hadn't had time to do more than get the cut glued up and then change into scrubs with less blood on them. Now the blood was pulsing through his skull in an unpleasant beat, making him feel a little nauseous. He couldn't stop the groan as he lowered himself on the couch, leaning his head against the back and almost missing the bottle of water swinging in his direction.

'You okay, man?' Jay propped himself against the arm of the chair and eyed Will with open concern.

'I'm fine.' It was a lie, Will knew it. But there wasn't anything Jay could do for an adrenaline crash, so there was no point in talking about it. He took a sip of water. 'It's just been a rough day. Killer viruses I can handle but terrorism isn't usually on my schedule. How's your arm, by the way?' Will could remember the spike of panic when he realised Jay was stuck inside. The cold dread of seeing his brother's blood and the spray bottle still in his other hand.

Jay just rolled his eyes, shaking his left arm a little. 'It's fine, man, it was just a scratch, can't even feel it.'

'Hmm.' Jay's arm could have literally been hanging off and he'd have said the same thing, so it didn't mean much but Will didn't have the energy to argue. He took another sip and felt the cool liquid slide down the back of his throat. He recognised the next feeling just in time to throw himself from the couch towards the bathroom, ignoring Jay's startled shout as he slammed his knees into the tiles and emptied his stomach into the toilet. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually stopped to eat a meal so it was mostly liquid and stomach acid, burning his throat and making him gag again. The pounding in his skull was so strong now it was a second before he registered Jay's voice.

'Will. Will! Are you okay? What's wrong?' Jay's hands were on him, one holding his shoulder, the other rubbing his back as he spat into the toilet once more. 'Will, you weren't exposed, were you?'

His little brother's voice was full of fear and Will was quick to shake his head, even though it made the pain worse. 'No.' He coughed, trying to clear his throat. 'I wasn't. It's okay. I think... I think it's...' He was loosing his train of thought. What had he been saying? Why was he cold? A shiver ran through him and someone's arms pulled him closer to them.

'Will? What's wrong – why are you sick? Tell me.'

Jay. That was Jay he was leaning against. His brother sounded worried. He didn't need to be. If Will could just get rid of this headache he'd be fine. Headache. He had a head injury. 'Ambulance.' That was his last coherent thought before everything went black.

Jay watched Will's eyes roll back in his head and felt his body slump against Jay's chest. From this vantage point, with Will's head limp against his shoulder, Jay could clearly see the hastily glued cut along his brother's hairline. Shit – head injury.

Someone else would have succumbed to the panic. Jay could feel it welling up and a part of him would have liked to. But he was far too well trained for that. His phone was in his hand in a second, 911 dialing through on speaker even as he gently lowered Will to the ground, grabbing a towel to put under his head and pulling long limbs into the recovery position as best he could in the small space.

'911, what's your emergency?' A man's voice – calm and professional.

'This is Detective Jay Halstead, badge number 51163. I need an ambulance to Apartment 16, Millenium Park, 151 Michigan Road.'

'I'm dispatching an ambulance right now, Detective. I have one about seven minutes out. Do you need police assistance as well?'

'No, no, it's fine. Just medical.'

'Alright then, Sir. Can you explain the situation to me, so I can prep the EMTs?' Dispatchers were taught to stay on the line and keep the person on the other end calm. It wasn't a service Jay really needed but briefing the EMTs was smart.

'It's my brother, William Halstead. He was knocked unconscious earlier today. He was checked out at the time and he's been fine since. But just a minute ago he started throwing up and then collapsed. He's non-responsive but his pulse and breathing are good.' Jay had his fingers on Will's neck, feeling the reassuring movement under them.

'Good, that's good.' He could hear the dispatcher typing. 'Is he in the recovery position?'

'Yeah, he is.'

'Good. Can you check his response to pain for me? If you squeeze down hard on a finger nail, tell me if he reacts at all.'

Jay had done all this before. He had had basic first aid training in the Rangers and more in depth when he had gone through the Academy. But neither of them had compared to Will finding out he was going to be a police officer and flying home from New York (seriously) to drill him on CPR, c-spine positioning and blood loss. Will had tried to go through delivering babies as well but at that point Jay had cracked open a bottle of whiskey and told Will he could either shut up and drink or leave. He had never had cause to deliver a baby (thank God!) but the CPR and other training had been more useful then he would have liked on the streets of Chicago.

Will didn't react to the pain at all. Not even a twitch.

'How long ago was his head injury?' the dispatcher asked, after Jay had told him no response.

'Ah...' Jay checked his watch, trying to work back. 'About ten hours ago? Roughly.'

'Okay, and where was your brother treated?'

'Chicago Med.' At least Jay could be sure of that. 'He's a doctor there – that's where he was hurt. I left him with another doctor. She said she'd look after him.' She hadn't been a doctor Jay had known. He didn't know many of the staff outside the ED – a handful up in Cardiology from when his father had.... from the last time he'd buried a family member. Will was all he had left now.

'Will?' Even though he knew it was foolish he shook Will gently by the shoulder, tapping him on the cheek. 'Will? Come on man.' Anything, he'd take anything that would assure him it wasn't happening again. That he wasn't being left completely alone...

'The ambulance is just about to pull up, detective.' The dispatcher's voice was still calm, still kind. He made no comment on Jay trying to wake his brother. 'Can you buzz them through and unlock the door to the apartment please?'

'Yeah, I've got it.' Jay was already up, checking on Will one more time before hurrying to the door.

'I hope your brother is alright, Detective,' the dispatcher said, as he heard the EMTs requesting entry.

'Thank you.' The line went dead and Jay stuffed his phone in his pocket, unlocking the door and leaving it ajar so he could go back to Will, who still hadn't moved at all. Jay couldn't help tapping on his cheek again, hopeful of some reaction, anything at all, but there was nothing. The only reassuring thing was the continued steady breathing.

Thirty seconds later there was a knock on the door even as it opened and a female voice came from the hall. 'EMTs, hello? Someone called for an ambulance?'

'In here,' Jay called, as he pushed himself to his feet again and leaned out of the bathroom door. Two EMTs, a man and a woman, walked further into the room.

'Are you the one who's hurt, Sir?' the female EMT asked, eyeing him.

'No, in here, it's my brother Will.' Jay ushered them into the bathroom but had to stand outside himself; there was barely room for the two EMTs to squeeze in next to Will's prone body.

Jay didn't know either of them but they both seemed to know Will, if their sharp intakes of breath were anything to go by.

'Dr. Halstead?' The female EMT asked, leaning closer to take a better look at Will's face, then turning a questioning look to Jay.

'Yeah,' Jay confirmed, still lingering by the door. 'I'm his brother, Jay.'

'I'm Amanda,' she introduced herself, 'And this is Jacks.' She gestured to her partner, who was already digging a machine out of his bag and hooking Will up to it. 'What happened?'

'Will was hit over the head earlier today.' Jay watched Amanda move her hands to Will's skull, instantly finding the wound. 'He was knocked unconscious, for a few minutes I think. He was seen by a doctor at the time, as far as I know, and he's been fine since. But then he just collapsed.'

'Okay,' Amanda was now feeling carefully along Will's head, while Jacks inserted an IV. 'And dispatch said the injury was about ten hours ago?'

'Yeah, about that.' Jay was trying to remember now – so much had happened since then.

'And he threw up before he passed out?'

'Yeah, he threw and then just collapsed straight away.'

'Alright.' Amanda motioned for Jacks to grab the backboard. 'Does Dr. Halstead have any allergies, underlying conditions and is he taking any medications?'

'No.' Jay kneeled down to help manouver his brother onto the board, lifting with the EMTs and only pausing at the door to grab the keys he'd dropped, pulling the door shut one handed as they headed for the elevator.

Will started seizing five minutes from the hospital. It only lasted maybe twenty seconds but for Jay, who was holding down his brother's legs as Amanda struggled to administer drugs, it seemed to last a lifetime.

Amanda smiled reassuringly at him after Will settled again. ‘It’s common with a head injury,’ she said, already pushing something else into Will’s IV. ‘It’s alright.’

Once they arrived at Med everything moved very quickly. After the initial shock for Will’s colleagues his gurney was swiftly moved into a treatment room. Stats were being relayed by the EMTs to a dark haired doctor with a New Orleans accent. Jay vaguely recognised him from some late night trips to the hospital for work. Jay, when he instinctively tried to follow the gurney, got pulled up at the door by a nurse.

‘Sir, you can’t go in there,’ he said, kind but firm. ‘You’re Dr. Halstead’s brother, right?’

Jay didn’t argue with the ban on going into the treatment room. He wasn’t going to be any help in there and he’d been down that path too many times to get in the way of the professionals. Instead he tore his eyes away from the buzz of activity around his brother and nodded at the nurse. ‘Yeah, I am.’

‘Okay.’ The nurse smiled and gestured to his right. ‘I’m Mark. How about you wait in the doctor’s lounge? No one will mind, and I’ll make sure Dr. Marcel finds you as soon as he has an update.’

It took another forty minutes, all of which Jay spent pacing the floors of the lounge, before the door opened again and the doctor from before came in. His face was set in a frown and Jay could feel his heartrate rising as he waited for the other man to say something.

‘Mr. Halstead?’ he asked first, as if there were other people in the room.

‘It’s Jay.’

The doctor nodded. ‘I’m Dr. Marcel, I’m treating Will. Do you want to sit down?’ He gestured to the couch but Jay shook his head, wondering if that meant bad news.

‘Just tell me - is Will okay?’

‘I’m hopeful of a full recovery.’ Those words were far from ‘yes, he’s fine’ but then Jay knew doctors would never give guarantees. If it had been Natalie or Ethan, someone he knew better, they’d probably be more likely too. ‘The hit Will took,’ Marcel continued, ‘caused a bleed. It’s been leaking slowly for the last few hours, which is why Will collapsed now instead of earlier.’

Jay clenched a fist to try and keep control. Marcel had said he expected a full recovery. It sounded worse than it was. ‘But you think he’s going to be okay?’

Marcel nodded but he was still frowning. ‘The bleeding looks to have stopped a short while ago. It hadn’t built up enough pressure for me to suggest surgery but obviously it has caused some problems, most notably the seizure.’ He glanced down at the tablet he was holding. ‘We’ve done a CT, which I’m happy enough with. He’ll need another in four hours, to make sure that bleed stays sealed. That being said,’ Jay froze again, ‘Will hasn’t regained consciousness yet. And seizures always come with a risk. I can’t make you any promises about his recovery until he’s awake and we can run a proper neuro exam.’

‘You’re thinking brain damage?’ Jay didn’t know how he kept his voice steady.

‘It’s not very likely,’ Marcel offered, ‘but I won’t lie to you - it is a possibility.’ He glanced back out the door, fidgeting a little. ‘Will should wake up soon, ideally. In the meantime he’s being moved upstairs to a room. Once he’s awake we’ll know more.’ 

Another twenty minutes and Jay was sitting by Will’s bedside in a private room upstairs. There were IVs, wires and monitors all over the place but one of the nurses had taken the time to explain it all so it wasn’t quite as intimidating. Perks of being ‘hospital family’ Jay knew; another nurse had brought him a fresh, hot coffee, which was sitting on the bedside table.

Jay hadn’t drank it because he was busy feeling guilty. He knew it was irrational - he had left Will in the care of an actual doctor while he went to chase down the madman with a deadly virus. In an emergency you delegated tasks by skill set. It wasn’t like staying with Will would have helped at all, since Jay couldn’t treat him. And Seldon needed to be stopped. But now Seldon _had_ been stopped and Will was lying unconscious in front of him. He hadn’t even checked; when Will turned up later on he’d just assumed he had to be fine. He should have known better.

‘Will,’ he called, even though he knew it was really pointless. ‘Wake up, man.’ Nothing. Jay sighed and leaned back, one hand reaching out to hold Will’s, careful of the IV but squeezing all the same. ‘I’m the one who's supposed to be getting hurt, Will.’ He kept his voice soft, mindful of the nurses outside and the ridiculousness of what he was doing. ‘That’s my job, remember? Bio-terrorism and head injuries.’

Silence except for the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor and the soft noises of the ward outside. It had been a really long day, Jay could feel it in his bones at this point. Eight hours ago he'd been in a room with a literal mad scientist, unarmed and offering himself up as the guinea-pig. Not two hours before that he'd been being shot at. He didn't want to miss Will waking up but also he knew he needed at least a nap. He'd barely slept for four days and even he had his limits.

Movement under his fingers shook him from a light doze. Will was stirring, face scrunched into a frown and head rolling back and forth.

'Will?' Jay was on his feet and leaning over the bed, squeezing Will's hand. 'Will, open your eyes, man, come on.'

It took another few seconds but soon Will's brown eyes were meeting Jay's, still a little unfocused and clearly very confused, but alert. Jay smiled widely. 'Hey, buddy, how do you feel?'

Will frowned deeper, glancing around and taking in the hospital room. Then his eyes widened and he tried to launch himself up from the bed, only Jay’s quick reflexes stopping him. Even then he struggled, weakly, against Jay’s restraining arms.

‘Jay! It was Seldon, he was destroying our work! We have to stop him! It was him-‘

‘Will, stop, it’s okay. Will!’ Jay had to shout to get his brother to stop struggling against him and finally focus on his face. ‘Will.’ Jay spoke clearly, forcing Will to maintain eye contact. ‘Everything is fine. Seldon is dead. It’s all okay.’

Will blinked a few times, hands still tight around Jay’s restraining arms. ‘What?’ He still looked confused but he’d stopped struggling.

Jay took the opportunity to start gently pushing him back on the bed. 'It's all okay, man. We stopped Seldon, and you got a treatment for the virus. It's okay.' Will was still blinking slowly at him but wasn't resisting as Jay manoeuvred him back against the pillows. He did wince a little when he finally settled and Jay quickly pressed the call button.

  
  


'It's over?'

  
  


'Yeah, buddy.' Jay kept his hand on Will's arm as he pulled the blanket back over his brother's legs. 'It's over, it's fine.' He turned as a nurse stuck her head in the door. 'Can you fetch the doctor, Will's awake.' She left to do just that after smiling at Will.

  
  


'A treatment?'

  
  


Jay nodded, rubbing Will's arm. 'Yeah, you got a treatment that worked, people are already getting better. Will,' Jay knew he was frowning in worry but couldn't clear his expression, 'what's the last thing you remember?'

  
  


‘Neuro-exams are my job, Detective.’ Dr. Marcel's voice sounded before Will had a chance to speak and both brothers turned to the door.

‘Hey Crockett?’ Will turned a querying look at Jay.

‘Marcel treated you when you arrived,’ Jay explained as Marcel came closer to the bed. ‘You got here fast?’ It hadn’t even been two minutes since the nurse had left.

‘My shift is about to finish, I was on my way up to check on Will.’ Marcel smiled down at his colleague. ‘How are you feeling? You obviously recognise me, so that’s a start.’

Will rolled his eyes but winced as he did. ‘I don’t have brain damage, Crockett, just some memory loss. How long has it been since I was hit?’

Marcel looked to Jay who glanced at his watch. ‘It’s been about 16 hours or so.’ He’d been dozing for longer than he realised. ‘You were awake for most of that though - you don’t remember any of it?’

‘That’s common.’ Marcel and Will spoke over each other in identical ‘doctor tone’ and Jay rolled his eyes as Marcel frowned at Will.

‘You’re the patient here, Red, try to act like it. What _is_ the last thing you remember?’

  
  


Will frowned a little and then smiled briefly at Jay as he continued to rub his arm gently. 'I remember going up to the lab – I wanted to check on the newest samples. When I got there Seldon was pouring bleach on them. He said they were contaminated but he was lying. We fought....' Will frowned again. 'He hit me with...a microscope?...then after that...' Will winced as he thought harder and Marcel was about to speak when Will glanced up at Jay. 'You were hurt – are you okay?'

  
  


Jay just stared at him, totally unbelieving. 'Are you serious?' Will frowned at him, confused. 'You have brain damage and amnesia but you remember I got a scratch on my arm?' Jay shook his head, laughing a little. 'You're ridiculous.'

  
  


'Are you okay?'

  
  


'Yes, my god, Will, I am _fine_.' Jay looked at Marcel, who was glancing between the two. 'Is he going to be okay?'

  
  


Marcel just grinned at the two of them. 'Yeah, probably. I need to do a full work up-' He ignored Will's disgruntled noise- 'And a repeat CT. But he clearly doesn't have any cognitive problems and he even remembers right up to the injury. That's about as good as it gets with a brain bleed.'

  
  


'A bleed?' Now Will wasn't grumbling and Jay could feel him tense under his hand. 'I was bleeding? How badly?'

  
  


Marcel raised a hand in a placating manner. 'A low level bleed that built up over time. It had stopped by the time you got to me. Your inter-cranial pressure wasn't so high that you needed a stent. Like I said, I need a follow up scan but I'm confident it'll be fine to heal up on its own.'

  
  


Will nodded, gently, at the diagnosis. ‘Okay, sounds good.’ He blinked a few times, eyes closing a little more each time. ‘Do we have to do that exam now?’

Marcel chuckled as he pushed the call button. ‘Sure do. Not so fun on the other side of it, huh?’

Will grunted non-committedly and looked at Jay. ‘When was the last time you ate?’ Jay shrugged - he really didn’t know at this point. ‘The neuro-exam will take like half an hour-‘

‘An hour or more,’ Marcel cut in, explaining when Will frowned at him. ‘I’ll get the scan done now as well - no point in waiting til later for it.’

‘Yeah, sure.’ Will looked back at Jay. ‘You should go downstairs and get something to eat. You’ll just be sitting here otherwise.’

Jay didn’t argue, just agreed and left Will to the care of Marcel and two friendly looking nurses. At the very least he needed coffee, if he was to last through another day. When he got to the canteen though a voice in his head (that sounded suspiciously like his brother) badgered him enough to actually pick up some eggs and toast along with the caffeine. Then he settled himself into a corner table and started texting Voight to update him on where he was and why he’d be late to work. It was early, he wasn’t due in for another three hours but he knew Voight would be awake, quite possibly hadn’t left the district at all last night. The next hour was spent on texting various members of the team, checking up on elements of the case and a quick phone call to Hailey, who should have still been asleep but didn’t seem to have gotten much rest the night before. When Jay was finished talking to her, with a promise to catch up properly later in the day, an hour was well over and he hurried back upstairs to Will’s room.

His brother was asleep when he came in, breathing softly. Jay set himself up in the same chair as before to wait. He’d told Voight he’d be in a little later - he wanted to confirm that Will was going to be okay, and then he needed to go home, shower, change out of yesterday’s clothes.

He’d half dozed off again, despite the coffee, when a nurse came in, smiling apologetically as she startled him. ‘He’s been asleep for two hours,’ she said, indicating Will, ‘I need to wake him up and ask him some questions.’

Jay just nodded, rubbing his eyes and sitting up straighter. The nurse was gently patting Will on the shoulder, letting him slowly open his eyes, face scrunched into a frown. ‘Good morning,’ the nurse said, ignoring his grumpy face. ‘Can you tell me your full name?’

Jay could hear Will’s sigh from the chair. ‘Dr. William Halstead. I’m in Chicago Med, I have a head injury, your name is Abigail, that’s my brother, Jay and I grew up in Canaryville.’ He looked at her expectantly.

‘Alright, show off,’ she smiled, patting his shoulder one last time. ‘We’re all good, I’ll see you in another few hours.’

‘Can’t wait,’ Will muttered, turning his attention to Jay, who was laughing softly. ‘Did you eat?’

Jay rolled his eyes again, pulling the chair closer to the bed. ‘Yes, I did - your memory is obviously fine now. What did Marcel say?’

‘CT was clear, the bleed has stopped and I’ll be fine.’

‘Definitely?’

Will rolled his eyes. ‘No, I’m lying. Yes, I’ll be fine. I’ll have to stay overnight but so long as everything is still good tomorrow I can go home.’

‘Good.’ Jay ran a hand through his hair. ‘I’m so ready for this case to be over.’

‘You and me both.’ Will rolled his head back against the pillows, eyes dropping a little. ‘You should go home and get some sleep. I’ll be fine here.’ He looked up as Jay shook his head.

‘I’ll run home but then I have to go to work.’ He smiled when Will made a face. ‘After the storm comes the paperwork,’ he explained, shrugging. ‘I told Voight I’d be in as soon as I’ve cleaned up.’

‘That sucks for you.’ Will was starting to sound a little punch drunk and Jay grinned as he stood up.

‘Yeah, thanks buddy.’ He clapped Will gently on the shoulder, watching his brother blink slowly at him. ‘Go back to sleep. I’ll stop by after work with your stuff. Text me what you need - your phone was in your pocket when they brought you in.’

  
  


'Hmm.' Will was basically asleep already and Jay poked him once to make him whine, then headed out the door smiling, hoping to finally put this whole nightmare behind them.


End file.
